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i^E-TJisrioisr 



OF THE 



SONS AND DAUGHTERS 



OF THE OLD 



TOWN Q'F FOMPET, 



HELD AT 



POMPEY HILL, JUNE 29, 1871, 

Proceedings of the Meeting, Speeches, Toasts and other 
Incidents of the Occasion. 



ALSO, 



A HISTORY OF THE TOW^^, REMINISCENCES 

AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF ITS 

EARLY INHABITANTS. 



Publication Committee: 

AVM. W. VAN RROlKl.l.N, ],K KoV .M()R(;.\\, UKIIAl!!) K. STRVENS, 

EBENEZER BrTEER, • ]I(»rEr> D. 1.. SWEET. 



POMPEY: 

Published by Direction of the Re-Union Mcetin.e. 

1875. 



i^ 



SYRACUSE. N. Y : 

CouRiEii Printing Company. 



c/ - - ^ ■ ij 



frU 



To THE Descendants 

The Pioneer Kesidents of tlie Old Town of Pompey, 
Tins HOOK 

— IS— 

Most Affectionately Dedicated; 

HOPING 

That tlie Bright and Shining Example of tljoir Fathers 
and Mothers 

HEKEIX TnAXSMITTEI) TO THKM, 

May be ever their Guiding Star through the 
Vovao-e of Life, 



/^: :;;:::;;.;:::...,..;:..„.,;:::::::::: :Q:Qj=I^^ 

-S PREFACE. |)- 



The undersigned committee, appointed to supervise the 
publication of the proceedings at the Re-Union of the former 
residents of Pompey, have felt, and upon inquiry have found, 
that a simple history of that day's proceedings is not all 
that will be expected at our hands. We have accordingly 
obtained, by considerable efforr, material for a more ex- 
tended book. In the following pages will be found, not 
only the re-union meeting, including speeches, toasts, <ltc., 
but also an historical sketch of the town of Pompey, and 
short biographical notices and reminiscences of some of the 
prominent and early settlers, to which we have added a di- 
rectory of the names, post-otlice address, occupation, kc, of 
as many of her distinguished men and women as we have 
been altle to obtain, with a brief mention of their public 
life. 

The publication of this volume has been long delayed, 
hoping that we might l)e able to give l)iographical sketches 
ot many more cjirly citizens of Pompey than will be found 
in the following pages. Our eftbrts for the last year and a 
half in reference to this book, have been directed to tliis 
end. Notwithstanding our appeals repeatedly made through 
the press, and personal applications to the descendants of 
the fathers of old Pompey, the a1)sence of many sketches 
we had hoped to o1>tain is annoying to us, and will be pain- 
fully manifest to all acquainted with the names to which Ave 
refer. While our desire has been to produce such a volume 



6 



PREFACE. 



as would meet the approbation of all, ^v6 are sensible that 
many things worthy of remembrance have been omitted. 

For the production of the volume as it is, we have cheer- 
fully given our services, and hope that it may prove a pleas- 
ant visitor at the fireside of Pompey's children wherever 
they may be, and a source of lasting happiness to us all. 

Wm. W. Van Brogklin, 
Richard F. Stevens, 
LeKoy Morgan, 
Ebenezer Butler, 
Homer D. L. Sweet. 



A BRIEF ACCOUNT 



ieajufe^ |akeii ^\i^\ |e5uUei k lite |e-|[nion 



»»,« 



A desire seems simultaneously to have possessed the 
minds of many of the Sons of Pompey to revisit the home 
of their childhood, and very naturally this desire was com- 
municated to others only to find a hearty response. Some 
time during the year 1870, Hon. Horatio Seymour, Hon. 
William G. Fargo, Hon. E. C. Litelitield, Leonard Jerome, 
Esq., Dr. Lucien J3. Wells, and others, having expressed a 
very strong desire that a meeting of former residents of 
Pompey should be held, Dr. L. B. Wells, of Utica, commu- 
nicated l)y letter with E. Butler, Esq., of Syracuse. The 
following is Dr. Wells' letter: 

Utica, July 10th, 1870. 
Dear Sir : — A few <lays since, meeting Gov. Seymour, he 
stated to me that hu had been urgently solicited by W. G. 
Fargo, of Buflalo, to have a movement initiated for a re- 
union of former residents of the town of Pompey. The 
Governor expressed the same desire and promised to be 
present on such occasion, and requested me to write to some 
of my friends who may feel an interest in the matter. From 
your extensive acquaintance in Pompey, and in Syracuse, 
where so many families reside who were former residents of 
Pompey, I have taken the liberty to present the subject for 
your consideration, earnestly desiring that this proposed re- 
nnion shall take place at no distant day. 

Respectfully Yours, 

L. B. Wells. 
To Ebenezer Butler, Esq., Syracuse. 



o THE rOMl'EV llE-UNIOK. 

This was the iirst measure taken which finally culminated 
in the Grand Re-Union of June 29th, 1871. Very soon the 
substance of this letter became known to many former resi- 
dents of Pompey, then residing in Syracuse aiid elsewhere, 
and a very general interest was created in the subject. Citi- 
zens of Pompey were informed of the state of feeling exist- 
ing abroad, and at Pompey initiatory steps were taken to 
bring about a re-union. Accordingly, meetings were held 
at Pompey, and finally, one on the 6th day of August, 1870, 
at the Presbyterian Church, of which Wm. W. Van Brock- 
lin was Chairman, and Wells M. Butler, Secretary, it was 
then resolved to invite the Sons and Daughters of Pompey 
from abroad to a Re-Union, to be held sometime in Septem- 
ber following, and a committee of arrangements was ap- 
pointed. The committee met on the 1.3th day of August, 
4ind after full consultation it was decided, in view ot^ the 
magnitude of the enterprise, the distance from Pompey 
many of her children reside, and the lateness of the season, 
that adequate preparations could not be made in time to 
secure a full attendance. The committee therefore adjourned 
to June, 1871, to meet at the call of the chairman. In the 
month of May, 1871, some fifty or sixty former residents of 
Pompey, then residing in Syracuse, held a meeting at the 
ofiice of Dr. R. F. Stevens to make arrangements for co-op- 
erating with the citizens of Pompey in preparation for a 
re-union. Levi S. Holbrook, Esq., Was called to preside, 
and on motion, it was resolved that a committee be iippoint- 
ed by the chair, to attend the contemplated meeting at Pom- 
pey, and to co-operate with the Pompey committee in mak- 
ing arrangements for the coming re-union. The chair 
appointed the following gentlemen as such committee:— 
Henry L. Duguid, Dr. R. F. Stevens, Calvin S. Ball, Jr., 
AVm. A. Sweet, Edward S. Dawson and Ebenezer Butler. 

At subsequent meetings held at the same place, eftbrts 
were continued in aid of the re-union, and preparations 
made to ensure success. 

During the time intervening between August, 1870, and 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 9 

June, 1871, u continued intercourse was kept up among those 
who were in earnest in reference to the matter, to the end 
that the residence of all entitled to an invitation should be- 
come knoAvn; and especially were the more eminent and 
active descendants of Pompey informed of the enterprise, 
so that they might be able to accommodate Iheir business 
or pleasure to an attendance at the contemplated re-union. 
A delegation of the Syracuse committee visited Pompey, 
and were present at a meeting hehl June 3d, 1871. It was 
then determined that the Syracusians should co-operate 
with the citizens of Pompey, and Dr. K. F. Stevens was 
appointed Corresponding Secretary. It was also resolved 
to publish an invitation circular, to be sent to all former 
residents of Pompey and their descendants, which should 
be signed by the invitation committee, inviting them to a 
re-union to be held at Pompey Hill, June 29th, 1871. 

The daily press of Syracuse was enlisted in the project, 
and notices published calling the attention of the public to 
the high degree of enjoyment anticipated, and the large 
number of distinguished guests expected. 

The invitation circular was also published, and these pa- 
pers and hundreds of the circulars were sent to every part 
of the Union, wherever a Pompey man or woman could be 
traced. The ofhce of the Corresponding Secretary assumed 
the proportions of an immense business corporation, send- 
ing and receiving mail. 

At the meeting of June od, held at Pompey Ilill, various 
committees were appointe<l, and the committee of arrange- 
ments enlarged and sub-divided, so that everytliing calcu- 
lated tor the comfort, pleasure and convenience of the 
expected gathering of the clans of Pompey, should receive 
attention. The names of the persons who constituted the 
different committees, and the officers selected for the re- 
union day, are all noted in their appropriate place. From 
this time up to the time appointed for the re-union, the 
town of Pompey, and especially the village of Pompey 



10 THE rOMPEY RE-UNIOX. 

Hill, was the theatre of constant plans and labor, and num- 
erous other meeti]]gs were held for the purpose of consumat- 
ing the arrangements projected at the meeting of June od. 

It is highly appropriate in this connection to acknowledge 
the obligation the committee of arrangements were under 
to the Press of Syracuse, and especially to the Standard, 
Courier and Journal, for the interest taken by them in pub- 
lishing the invitation circular and notices of the Re-TTnion, 
both before and after the occasion. The following resolu- 
tion was unanimously adopted by the committee of arrange- 
ments : — 

Besolved, That the citizens of Pompey are under high 
and lasting obligations to the Press of Syracuse for the un- 
selfish interest manifested by each of the daily papers in 
gratuitously publishing the notices and circulars of our Re- 
union, and giving to the public so just and full an account 
of the interesting proceedings on that occasion, and in their 
behalf, and also in behalf of her sons and daughters abroad, 
we tender them our sincere and heartfelt thanks. 

The following is the invitation circular above referred to, 
printed on tinted note paper. On the outside, 

RE-UNION AT HOME. 

PoMPEY, Onondaga Co., N. Y., June 1, 1871. 
You are most cordially invited to attend a Re-Unioh of 
the former residents of the old Town of Pompey — now Pom- 
pey and Lafayette — which will be held at Pompey Hill on 
Thursda}^, the 29th day of this month. 

Wells M. Butler, 
Rich'd F. 'Stevens, Frank Jerome, 

Cor. Sec'y, Syracuse, X. Y. Rec. Sec'ys, Pompey, X. Y. 

On the inside, the following appeal, signed by the com- 
mittee : — 

AULD LANG SYNE. 

A desire has been implanted in our natures to visit, in 
after life, the o-raves of our ancestors and the homes of our 



THE POMPEY BE-UNION. * 11 

childhood — to renew old acquaintance and revive reminis- 
cences of by-gone days. 

Most of the early settlers of Pompey are ,2:one, and the 
survivors are fast passing away. They, with those of 
younger years, join in inviting the sons and daughters and 
former residents of the old Town, to a joyous Re-Union, 
promising them all a warm welcome to their old and hon- 
ored home. 

It is desirable that all should arrive at the village as early 
in the day as possible, and the time will he occupied with 
meetings, (both day and evening,) addresses, music, feasting^ 
visiting and recreation, with ample arrangements for the 
comfort and happiness of all. 

Addresses arc expected by ex-Governor Horatio Seymour, 
of Utica, ex-U. S. Senator Geo. II. Williams, of Oregon, 
Judge Charles Mason, of Washington, Maj. Gen. Henry 
W. Slocum and Judge Lucien Birdseye, of Brooklyn, Hon. 
L. E. Marsh, Leonard W. Jerome, Esq., and Hervey Shel- 
don, Esq., of New York, Hon. Wm. G. Fargo, of Butfalo, 
E. C. Litchfield, Esq., of Cazenovia, Hon. R. IL Duell, of 
Cortland, Hon. D. G. Fort, of Oswego, Dr. Chas. W. Stev- 
ens, of St. Louis, Mo., Judge Leroy Morgan and Hon. C. 
B. Sedgwick, of Syracuse, and others who have signified 
their intention to he present; also a poem is expected to be 
read by "Grace Greenwood" (Mrs. Lippincott) who intends 
to be present and join in the festivities of the occasion. 

From Syracuse persons can reach the Hill by the Bing- 
liamton Railroad to Lafiiyette Station, or l:)y private con- 
veyance. 

Each one receiving this, is requested to extend the invi- 
tation to other old residents of Pompey, and all who accept 
this invitation, will please communicate tiieir intention to 
be present, by letter, to the Corresponding Secretary — Dr. 
R. F. Stevens, Syracuse, N. Y., at their earliest convenience. 

Committee of Invitation. — Jehiel Stearns, Asa H. Wells, 



12 THE POMPEY KE-UMON. 

Beach Beard, Harvey M. Woodford, John J. Taylor, 0. 
Jarvis Wheatou, Merit Butler, Chas. E. K. Hill, IToah Pal- 
mer, Zenas A. Jones, Elias Barnes, David Hibbard, Edmund 
O. Claj^p, Manoah Pratt, Samuel Baker, Hiram Clement, 
Miner B. Murray, Alvin M. Ball, Alanson P. Benson, Ches- 
ter Baker, Luther Cole, Elijah Parks, C. C. Midler, Sand- 
ford K. Newell, Warner Butts, Isaac C. Wicks, Geo. Doolett, 
Oersham Wheeloek, Uriel Wilson, John H. Clarke, Lewis 
O. Hill, Victory J. Birdseye, John C. Jerome, John Smith, 
Warren Sloan, William Savage, Peuben Edgarton, Harry 
Kuapp, D. G. Southard, Taber D. Williams, Julius Mason, 
Joseph Wallace, John Hatch, Joseph Jennings, Silas L. 
Holbrook, Hiram Sutherland, Daniel Kellogg, Grace K'ew- 
man, Benjamin F. Wheeler, Reuben Billings, David Will- 
iams, Chas. Hill, Matthias Berry, Henry Candee, Russell 
Duguid, Nicholas VanBrocklin, Parker Borden, Ira Dodge, 
Hiram Perry, Myron Sharp, D. E. Hayden and Grrin 
Bishop. 

Committee of Arrangements. — Marshal R. Dyer, Geo. 
E. Wells, Frank Jerome, W. B. Sweet, R. D. Slosson, Levi 
AVells, W. W. VanBrocklin, Frank Porter, Henry Doolett, 
O. G. Dibble, Ira Ellis and Rensselaer Northrup. 

Committee of Reception. — O. C. Pratt, Col. M. B. Birds- 
4iye, A. H. Clapp, Morris Beard, J. Haskell Stearns, Fred- 
.eriek R. Murray, Samuel A. Hibbard and Samuel Jerome. 

Other Committees were subsequently appointed as the 
work ot preparation progressed, but the names of those who 
constituted those Committees have not been preserved. 

The Cohimittee to prepare the tables — as near as can be 
ascertained — were Jas. VanBrocklin, Chas. E. Hopkins, 
Nicholas VanPatten, Geo. Kenyon and Eli Pratt. 

The following are among the persons who served on the 
■Committee on Decorations, the Committee to prepare vari- 
ous Refreshments and Furnish the Tables, and the Commit- 
tee to wait upon the Guests at the tables. Many of them 



THE POMPEY KE-UNION. 



13 



served on two or ^hrce Committees, and some, doubtless, 
whose names do not appear, were active in helping:— 

R. Xorthrup, Melvin Webster, Frank Robinson, Josio 
Downs, Laura Beard, Gertrude Beard, Mr. and Mrs. A. S. 
Hale, Mr. and Mrs. Levi Wells, Dr. O. G. Dibble, Fannie 
Whe'aton, Ada Wheaton, Lizzie Wills, Dora Ellis, l^hoebc 
Curtis, Alice Dunham, Olive Corwin, Lucia Robinson, Min- 
nie Beard, Irving Robinson, Fraidc Waters, Fletcher Soule,. 
Wm. Mason, Mr. and Mrs. E. Pomeroy, Mr. and Mrs. O. 
C. Pratt, Mr. and Mrs. John Soule, Wm. H. VanBrocklin, 
Ellen VanPatten, Sarah J. Robinson, Lla Soule, Cclia But-. 
tertield, Sophrona Hayden, Mr. and Mrs. J. V. Butts, So- 
phrona Wilby, Orlando Robinson, Fannie Fisk and Julia 
VanBrocklin. 

All the arrangements having been perfected in detail that 
were di*omed necessary, all r. waited the approach of the ap- 
pointed day with eager expectation. 

THE RE-UNION DAY. 

The morning was chilly, and clouds overcast the sky. A 
heavy rain had fallen the night before, but the roads Avere 
in tine condition ; a light shower fell during the forenoon 
of the Re-Union Day, but soon after noon the clouds dis- 
appeared, leaving one of those beautifully clear and trans- 
parent atmospheres that so grandly displays the gorgeous 
scenery of the surrounding hills and valleys — the pride and 
glory of old Pompe\ . Many from abroad had arrived the 
night before, and the early morning saw the Hill busy with 
life. A large tent had V)een spread on the village green, 
sufficient to accommodate three or four thousand people ; 
evero-reen banners lunl been thrown across the various 
avenues leading to the village, and one spanned the village 
green from the Presbyterian Church to Capt. John J. Tay^ 
lors store, bearing the magic word "WELCOME.'" 

A special train had been prepared at Syracuse to convey 
guests to the Hill by the Syracuse & Binghamton Railroad, 



14 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

via. Lafayette, and it was tilled with an eager and expectant 
t]ironf>-. Teams had been sent by the citizens of Pompey, 
and at Lafayette Station awaited the arrival of the train. 
A procession was soon formed, consisting of sixty-eiglit well 
tilled farmers' wagons, which was met near the "old Ander- 
son Home" by two mounted marshals and an escort, sent 
from the village. Dresher's full band, trom Syracuse, was 
at the head of this procession, and as they came in sight of 
the village the band struck up "Home, Sweet Home," and 
as they reached the village, about nine o'clock in the morn- 
m<y. a wild scene of enthusiastic welcoming greeted them. 
About this time every avenue leading to the village, (of 
which there are nine,) Avas full of vehicles of every descrip- 
tion, conveying thither its freight of human hopes and ex- 
pectations for a glorious Ivc-Union. From Syracuse, in 
addition to the special train, hundreds came with their own 
conveyance, among whom was Hon. D. P. Wood, the 
chosen President of the Day, Gen. John A. Green, Jr., of 
Syracuse, and Hon. Wm. G. Fargo, of Buffalo, who, with 
his family. Judge Verplanck and Hon. Joseph Warren, of 
Buffalo, came in his mammoth family carriage drawn by six 
splendid horses, which he had transported from Buffalo for 
the occasion, affording him an opportunity to pass the home 
of his childhood in the vicinity of Watervale. From Caz- 
enovia, Fayetteville, Manlius, Delphi, and the eastern por- 
tion of Pompey, came an immense throng, over three hun- 
dred carriages passing the Academy Green upon their ap- 
proach to the village green. Among these was Governor 
Seymour, who came from Cazenovia Avith friends Avith Avliom 
he had stopped the night before. From the south, also, 
came an equally large concourse, and as the immense streams 
of humanity from every direction poured in upon the A^illage 
green, they mingled together in serene confusion. Here 
met those AAdio had been separated for many long years, and 
on every side Avas seen the greeting of relatives and friends 
— the aged fathers and mothers living over the sunny days 
of childhood. Tears and snnles, sorroAv and joy, chased 



THE I'OMI'EY llE-UNIOX. 15 

each other over the gathered multitude. Here was a crowd 
listenuig to the remiuiseeuces of the early days of Ponipey 
hv Harry Hopkius, At another point might be seen the 
tall and commanding form of Senator Williams receiving 
the congratulations of the friends of his youth. While yet 
again, in the conscious dignity of a virtuous life, moved the 
presence of Governor Seymour, greeting the playmates of 
his youthful days. And yet again, at various points, might 
be seen Hon. Wm. G. Fargo, Ex-Mayor of Buffalo; Hon. 
Charles Hayden, Ex-Mayor of Rochester; Hon. Daniel G. 
Fort, Ex-Mayor of Oswego : Hon. Charles B. Sedgwick and 
Hou. Horace Wheaton, Ex-Representiitives in Congress; 
Hon. LeRoy Morgan, Judge of the Supreme Court, and 
many others, surrounded by groups of admiring friends, re- 
lating incidents of early life in Pompcy. And yet again, 
among the multitude were a large number who, though not 
:S0 distinguished, have yet an equal claim to our esteem for 
thi^ir consistent and upright lives of integrity, honoring, as 
the}' have God, humanity and their native town. Such 
scenes of happy greeting as were witnessed from the time 
the people began to assemble till the closing of the day, and 
>especially from 9 to 11 o'clock, on the village green, are 
■seldom witnessed in a life time. No words can convey an 
ade(|uate idea of the emotional feeling which the occasion 
■called forth. 

At eleven o'clock, tlie hour appointed for the meeting in 
the tent on the green, the loud-mouthed cannon and the joy- 
fully sad peals from the old bell in the Congregational 
church, tliat had in early days summoned many present to 
the house of worship, now announced the hour for the 
fornial exercises of the day. The tent was already crowded 
to its utmost capacity, and thousaiids were unable to gain 
admittance. Dr. Richard F. Stevens called the vast assem- 
bly to order, and Hon. D. P. Wood assumed his position, by 
order of the Committee of Arrangements, as President of 
the Day. Tlie Vice-Presidents were as follows : — 

Dr. Jahiel Stearns, Asa H. Wells, John C. Jerome, 0. J. 



16 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

Whcaton, Myron Sharp, Morris Baker, Dr. E. l*arks, 
?Jiiier B. Murray', Harry Ktiapp, Harvey M. Woodford, 
Grace ISTewmaii, Zenas A. Jones, Saniuol Baker, Charles R. 
K. Hill, Joseph Jennings, Warner Butts, Silas A. Hollirook, 
Horace Wheaton, Manoah Pratt, H. W. Van Buren. Xa- 
thaniel Foster, Dr. L. B. Wells, C. J. Hayden, J. M. Taylor, 
A. T. Dunham, Solomon Judd, Addison G. Williams, Mer- 
rit Butler, Wm. J. Curtis. 

Recordinc; Secretaries. — Frank Jerome, W. M. Butler, 
of Pompey. 

Corresponding Secretary. — R, F. Stevens, of Syracuse. 

The services were commenced !»y the hand playiug the 
'•Anvil Chorus." 

The Till one of Divine Grace was then invoked by Rev. 
Mr. Cooper, pastor of the Congregational churcli, in a sol- 
emn and impressive prayer, the language of which, it is to 
be regretted, has nut l)een preserved. The immense con- 
course then sung the words, "Praise God from whom all 
])lessings flow," &c., to the good old-fashioned tune, " GUI 
Hundred," accompanied by the band. 

At the conclusion of the singing, the President, lion. 
Daniel P. Wood, said: — 

&jns and JJaur/Jdcrs of Pompcij : 

Upon an occasion of so much interest and im- 
portance, when those who have been long absent from their 
childhood's home have returned to visit the companions of 
their youthful days, and to look again upon tlie places 
familiar in life's fresh morning, it is eminently proper that 
some present resident of Pompey be called upon to address 
appropriate words of welcome to the returning pilgrims. I. 
therefore have the pleasure of introducing to you Wm. W. 
VanBrocklin, who will now address you. 





'cj?^&^j^^u 




THE POMPEY RE-UNIOX. 17 

MK. VAN BROCKLIN'.' ADDRESS OF WELCOME. 

Fellow Citizens, Sons and Dauqfdcrs of Pompoj front Al»r,ud : 

The occasion wliicli has called together this 
vast assembly, is one which will ever 1)C remembered as the 
brightest period of our earthly existence. To-day, Pompey 
welcomes home her sons and daughters. And as one who 
still lingers upon this soil, consecrated by. the sacred ashes 
of your fathers, I have been commissioned by the present 
citizens of Pompe}', without distinction of party or creed, 
in their behalf to express their most sincere and cordial 
greeting — to extend to you who have come hither from 
every quarter ot" our great ami glorious land, the hospitali- 
ties of the town — to assure you that everj- door in Pompey 
is thrown wide open to receive you, and that you ma}- feel 
the same degree of freedom that a child would, upon re- 
turning after a long absence to visit the parental roof. Thus 
are you welcomed ; yet the occasion is so fraught with recol- 
lections of our early life, and so eminent are the characters 
of those who have come back to honor the place of their 
nativity, that I cannot dismiss the subject without l)rieily 
expressing a few thoughts that seem to me appropriate. 
You are welcomed ; nq| as the prodigal son, yet with an 
erpial degree of at!ection. Unlike him, in poverty you left 
ns, with nothing but your unblemished reputations, which, 
thank God, you have kept pure, and 3'our stern purpose and 
iirm- resolves to do and conquer upon the battle fields of 
life. Unlike him, you have not spent your substance in 
riotous living, yet, while Plenty has crowned 3'our efforts, 
in the various appointments, which, under God, you have 
been called to fill, and "want goes smiling from your door," 
we have killed the fatted calf, and upon it will you be 
feasted, in token of our appreciation of your exalted worth; 
and as you will soon surround the table of 3'our re-nnion 
with the loved and cherished companions of 3'Our youthful 
days, you will find, while joy and gladness shall abound, 
and mirth and song and dance shall speed along the happ}' 
hours of this day, that this is not entirely ah occasion of 



Ih THE POMl'EY llE-UXION'. 

unmixed festive enjoyment. Room will be left to drop tlie 
tear of aifection over the vacant chairs, and over the graves 
'of tliose we loved and honored, twenty, forty, sixty years 
^ago. To tliem is due much of your success in life. Their 
careful supervision of your early education , the sterling 
worth of the early settlers of Pompey, their examples of 
economy, virtue, honestj' and strict integrity have lefc an 
imperishable impress upon your characters. And so we 
rind that this re-union of I'ompey's sons and daughters is 
composed of an array of talent seldom equalled, never ex- 
celled, and it impresses the mind with the transcendant 
value of oar institutions, which open to the rich and poor 
alike, throughout our vast domain, opportunities to acquire 
fortune and fame. Within my own recollection, Pompey 
has furnished to our State Legislature tldrteen members, six 
representatives in our Xational Congress, one United States 
Senator and member of the recent Joint High Commission, 
two Governors, rive Mayors of cities, three Supreme Court 
-Judges ami one Major-General of our victorious armies, 
while we have heard with pleasure and pride of the promo- 
tion of many who have left their Pompey homes to posts of 
li'ust and honor in other States, not to speak in detail of the 
large list of minor oflices and nominations for important 
trusts that would tire your patience to hear. In addition to 
all these, the agriculturists, artisans, commercial men, citi- 
zens who represent all the industrial pursuits of life that 
Pompey has thrown forth upon the world, challenge the re- 
spect and admiration of every community from Plymouth 
Rock to the golden shores of the Paciric. Nor are the 
learned professions wanting in illustrious examples reared 
upon this sacred soil. Of them I need not speak, for soon 
they will speak for themselves in yonder grove, in strains of 
stirring native eloquence. And yet again, Pompey's sons 
aiud daughters have plucked the fairest roses from the rield 
of science, and the literar}' world does homage to the artless 
word painting of the unapproachable Grace Greenwood. 
While all I have said, and more, is true of Pompey's chil- 



THE POMPEY DE-UNIOX. 19 

(Ireii, I am not left in wonder that in your hearts welled up 
a yearning- desire to visit once more the magic spot that has 
given to the world so rich a legacy. There is a philosophy 
closely connecting a people with the land of their l)irtli. 
God, nature, divine revelation, and humanity in its normal 
condition, are all in harmony. Hence the transcendently 
lovely scenery, beautiful landscape views, healthful, invig- 
orating breezes, enlarged and comprehensive views of nature 
in her sublimest moods, witnessed and eiijojed by your 
mothers and yourselves during your early existence, have 
left an impress upon your minds and assisted to form char- 
acters that will continue to exert a salutory influence which 
will reach ever onward and uiiwarcl throughout the bound- 
less cycles of eternit}'. This glorious old town of Pompe}', 
of classic name, overlooking the lakes Onondaga and Oneida 
in yonder fertile valleys — with landscape views extending 
into seven counties of the State, itself but a succession of 
lotty, luxurient hills and fertile vallc3's, with its beautiful 
rivulets and cascades, separating the waters u})0n this inhab- 
ited summit of the Empire vState, to find their meandering 
way to replenish the exhausted streams under the Inirning 
suns of a Southern clime, as well as to mollify the freezing- 
current of our IS'orthern lakes, is one of the spots upon this 
green and rolling earth where the true lover of nature would 
like to be born Therefore, in conclusion, I repeat, wel- 
come to these s^dvan shades and cool retreats ; welcome to 
these academic halls, where, under the tuition of a Stebbms, 
who now sleeps 'neath the clods of Chenango's beautiful 
valley, a fit resting place for the ark of a spirit so noble and 
so good, we together learned to climb the lull of science ; 
welcome to the holy places where sisep your buried dead; 
welcome to our mountain homes; welcome! thrice welcome 
to our hearts! and should we never meet again on earth, be 
assured it is ours to know that this re-union we to-day are 
permitted to witness and enjoy, is typical of that never end- 
ing re-union, that God, the Fatlier of our spirits has reserved 
for all his children. 



20 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

The band then played "Home, Sweet Home," 

Hon. Horatio Seymour was next introduced, and respond- 
ed to the address of welcome, as follows: 

GOVERNOR SEYMOUR'S ADDRESS. 

There is a living cord which binds men and animals to 
the spots where they first feel life. A wonderful instinct 
guides the fish of the sea through the dark floods of the 
ocean to the streams where their existence begins; that di- 
rects the bird through the vast expanse of the air back to 
the hidden spot where it was born, and enables the beast of 
the forest to track its way through dense shades to its native 
lair. A secret vague yearning for our first home draws to- 
day to this retired village men from all parts of our broad 
country. They have left the exacting busy pursuits of their 
several stations at the bidding of this instinctive demand of 
nature at no small cost of time, of effort, and of means. 
They are here from the shores of the Atlantic and the Pa- 
cific ; from the great valley of the Mississippi ; from ISTorth- 
ern and from Sonthern States. Whatever their stations in 
life may be, and although they may have become old men, 
the spirit of childhood comes over them when they stand 
again in the places where everything recalls the feelings and 
the associations of early youth. But beyond an instinctive 
desire to revisit our native homes, there are moral and in- 
tellectual reasons which have moved ns to accept the invi- 
tations of the citizens of this town to meet here on this oc- 
casion. We sometimes think of the sorrows and jovs of 
childhood as trivial things, and we smile at the deep feel- 
ings they once excited. As we grow older we look upon 
them in a different light. We find they had much to do in 
■forming our characters and shaping our fortunes. Their 
memories have gone with us through life. They are golden 
threads woven into the warp and woof of our existence* 
They grow brighter as the rest of the fabric fades and de- 
cays. No man comes back alone to this spot thus hallowed. 
Each is surrounded with a croAvd of those whom he lias in 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION, 21 

imagination called back from their graves. On this day and 
in this place he sees with vivid clearness their forms and as- 
pects, and he holds with them a closer communion. If each 
of lis could see the cloud of such visions, which fills the 
miiids of this assemblage, we should then feel that we are 
in the awful presence of the multitude of the spirits of those 
who once lived and acted here, and whose memories we 
cherish among the sacred things of our hearts. 

Beyond those instinctive thoughts which crowd upon our 
mind, there are many matters of historic interest connected 
with this town and this vicinity. They would make ample 
topics for a more full address than would be in place at this 
time. This is not an occasion for any one man's speech, 
but for an exhibition of the feelings of each and all who 
meet here to indulge their memories with the past and to 
do honors to their forefathers. I will therefore say but a 
few words, and I will then give way to others. 

Those of us who have reached the age of three score years 
will rememljer this spot as one of the frontier statioris of 
civilization. The land was covered as with a pall by great 
and gloomy forests. The first settlers placed their homes 
upon the hill tops, where they could most readily get air 
and light and an outlook over the land then covered as if by 
a great ocean with the green and waving foliage of lofty 
tree tops. The deeper and darkef valleys were shunned. 
Their luxuriant but excessive vegetation was fraught with 
disease and death. "We used to look oft" upon the lower 
lands, where the city of Syracuse now stands with its popu- 
lation of fift}- thousand, as a pestilential place to be avoided. 
It was then an unsightly swamp, in whose miasamtic air 
many sickened and died. At that day the toil and energy 
of the country were given to cutting down tlie overshadow- 
ing forests. The trees were felled in the winter months. 
In the spring their huge trunks were piled up and burned, 
filling the country with smoke of the log heaps; in the sum- 
mer the crop was cultivated with painful toil amid the 
•stumps and roots that covered the ground with a net work 



22 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

of decaying wood; in autumn they gathered the slender 
harvests, which gave them their simple food and scanty 
clothing. For these blessings they thanked God and were 
content. It took a lifetime of hard and patient work to 
make a cleared farm in this hill region. I do not think the 
m.en of this generation are equal to the work done by their 
fathers. I will not recount the events and changes which 
have taken place since their days. Thev are censtantly 
forced upon our attention when we turn our mind towards 
the past. It is enough to say that we who saw the forest 
cut down in this region, who watched the retreating steps of 
savage tribes, and who witnessed the destruction of the wild 
beasts of the woods, have lived through social changes and 
a material progress equal to that of ten centuries of English 
history. We have seen changes in the condition of our peo- 
ple as marked as those which have occurred in Britain from 
the reign of Alfred the Great to that of Queen Victoria, 
We have witnessed the iirst steps, and the highest achieve- 
ment of civilization. 

Let me say a few words about the social condition of this 
town at the beginning of this century. The people were 
poor; their condition was one of constant toil and hard 
struggles to gain food and clothing; but these evils were 
relieved by the kindly sympathies which sprung from com- 
mon wants. All intercourse was upon a level. Where all 
were poor there was no glare of wealth to shame poverty or 
to cause repining. In this respect this community was then 
like all others in Central New York. But there was one 
fact which every native of this town loves to speak of, which 
sent so many of its sons forth into the world to become pros- 
perous men, which brings so man\' of them back to-day with 
feelings of gratitude to their fathers. Amidst all their pov- 
erty, toil and privation, their iirst thought was to get schools 
for their children, and to found an academy which should 
give instruction in the higher branches of education. To 
do this, great efibrts were made, and in some instances men 
put mortgages upon tlieir lands to enable them to do their 



THE POMPEY RE-UXION. 23 

share towards buildiiic^ up this institution. For a long time 
it was the only academy in a large section of this State, and 
many pupils were sent to it from adjoining counties. The 
people of Onondaga have always given the founders of this 
town great credit for their wisdom and foresight. Among 
the first in-comers were persons of culture and ahilitv. 
who did much to form the characters and shape the policy 
of their townsmen. At one time all the four members in 
the Legislature of the State from this county, and at or 
about the same time the representatives in Congress, were 
natives of the town of Pompey. 

It can he claimed for its academy that it was of jSTalional 
consequence. In the Senate of the United States, in the 
House of Representatives, in the Judiciary of the I^ation 
and of New York, \n the Legislatures of the States, in the 
armies of the Union, in the pulpits of our cliurches, in the 
learned professions, and in all useful pursuits, those born 
and educated in this town have held positions of honor and 
responsibility. One of the earliest recollections of my child- 
hood is that of looking upon a meeting of the friends of 
that academy, on a winter's evening, in a room Avhich was 
lighted, as well as Avarined, by a huge wood fire, which 
roared and flashed in the cavernous fire place. All the 
means and efitbrts of its founders could only put up an luim- 
ble building for academical uses. If seen now, we might 
smile at its rude workmanship and its meagre endowment 
of books and apparatus, but it we could see it in the light 
of the benefits it has done, we sliould bow reverentially to 
the memories of those who founded it, amid all the wants, 
trials and poverty of frontier life. 

The social condition of this country lias changed in the 
hist half century. At the outset it was rude, but it was free 
and void of shams and hypocrisy. The}- had a kind of 
teaching too, which, in some ways was better than that 
gained by modern improvements in books and schools. At 
an early day, in poor communities onl}- those who were able 
to put up comfortable houses could entertain travelers. 



24 THE rOMPEY RE-UNION. 

Hence fifty years ago Inn-keepers were among our leading- 
men. The village bar-room was not only made attractive 
by its ample space, and made clieertul by its great fires of 
lo2:s and sticks, whicli would be called logs in those days, 
but it was also the place of common resort for all classes. 
Here the lawyer, the doctor, clergyman, and men of busi- 
ness and of labor, met to talk over the aftairs of the town, 
the State and nation. These discussions were open to all 
of the wide circle which filled the room. 

Men then heard l)oth sides of the questions of the day. 
They learned to temper their prejudices, and to correct their 
opinions. Nor was the gain to the uneducated only. The 
members of the learned professions were taught much that 
was valuable to them in their pursuits. Clergymen and 
lawyers knew more of liuman nature then than now. Opin- 
ions were not formed in studies alone, or from association 
with one class of minds. Hence they were not put forth in 
those terms of bitterness, and with those feelings of bigotry 
which are apt to mark those who see but one side of ques- 
tions. The village bar-room had its evils and its tem[)ta- 
tions. If these coidd be done away with, and its clicerful 
rooms and bright fires could be restored, and al)ove all, if 
the old kindly and free intercourse among all classes could 
be lenewed, we should not only have better order and 
morals throughout our social system, but we should all have 
wiser and better men at the bar, in the pulpit, and in the 
halls of State and National legislation. 

The amusements of those old days were more robust than 
at this time. Physical strength and activity were admired. 
Each town had ambitions of having the swiftest runner and 
the most skillful wrestler. The battle with the forest could 
only be fought and won by hands hardened to toil and en- 
durance. These were the qualities most admired, for they 
were most needed. Our deacons would not now think of 
calling out the country to aid in lifting up the frames of 
their churches by a promise that some adventurous man 
would stand upon his head on the highest ball on the 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 25 

steeple's top, and twine his feet in the tines of the lightning 
rod. Yet, if my memory serves me right, the chureh which 
stands in its fair proportions on this village green was helped 
up by some such inducements. I am sure the deacons would 
not try to stimulate the sale of pews by putting a pail of 
punch on the pulpit stairs to warm up the liberal spirits of 
the church members. I know that was the case when the 
pews were sold in the church just by. 

It has been said that those were the "days of pure liquor, 
sound Democrac}' and vital piet}'." We can dispense with 
the Jicjuor, pure or impure. Of Democracy in a partisan 
sense, I have nothing to say, but as it is held by all classes 
and all parties as a part of our political system, I think it is 
true that in all social intercourse, in public morality, in 
official virtue, it Avas better practiced then than now. So 
far as piety is concerned, I can only say I believe ihat then, 
as now, devoted men preached the truths of religion, and 
toiled Avith faithfulness in their Maker's cause. Many of 
those who rest in yonder grave-yard went down to their 
resting place soothed and comforted by an assurance of fu- 
ture joys, and I trust all of those who stand before me are 
animated by the same hopes, and will, in their last hours, 
be sustained by the same consolation. 

The President, with some appropriate remarks, presented 
Governor Seymour with an exquisite bouquet, tiie gift of 
Mrs. P. L*. Miller, of DeWitt, whereupon Governor Seymour 
responded as follows : — " I am very much gratified for this 
beautiful bouquet. I have said already how I reverenced 
the memories of tlie fathers of Pompe3\ and how I admired 
their sons. I can now only say how much I love their 
daughters." [Applause and laughter.] 

Governor Seymour, in a few moments, rose and said: — 
" My friends, pardon me for lifting up my voice one more. 
[Applause.] I spoke of the early men in my county. I 
tried in very feeble and inadequate terms to tell you what 
their claims were upon our respect. I can do more now. 



26 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

I want to give you an example of one more of them in pre- 
senting to you Judge Strong, a gentleman ninety years of 
age, who has spent his whole life honorably and well, trying 
to serve his fellow-men, to honor his God, and to uphold 
the institutions of our country. I now present you Judge 
Oliver R. Strong, of Syracuse, one of the early settlers of 
the town of Onondaga." 

The aged patriarch stood uncovered before the immense 
assemblage, his clear eye indicating a vigorous intellect in 
hie green old age, and in eloquent silence he gracefully 
bowed his acknowledgements to the hearty welcome of ap- 
plause he received. 

After Judge Strong had resumed his seat, the entire as- 
semblage arose and joined in singing the following beautiful 
anthem, the effect of which will ever be remembered by all 
present on the occasion. It seemed as though one soul ani- 
mated the vast concourse and one sympathetic cord united 
all the people. At the close of the singing a solemn still- 
ness pervaded the place, and a happy expression beamed 
forth from thousands of tearful eyes. 

AULD LANG SYNE. 

Slioiild aukl acquaintance he forgot, 

And never brought to mind? 
Should aukl acquaintance be forgot, 

And days of auld lang syne ? 
For auld lang syne we meet to-day, 

For auld lang .syne ; 
To tread the jiaths our fathers trod 

In days of auld lang syne. 

We've passed through many varied scenes. 

Since Youth's unclouded day ; 
And friends, and hopes, and hai)py dreams, 

Times hand hath swei)t away. 
And voices that once joined with ours, 

In daj's of aidd lang syne. 
Are silent now, and blend no more. 

In songs of auld lang syne. 

Yet ever has the light of hope 
Illumed our darkest hours. 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 27' 

Ami cheered us on life's toilsome way, 

And gemmed oni- paths with flowers : 
The sacred prayers our mothers said 

In days of auld lang syne, 
Have ever kept us in the right. 

Since days of auld lang syne. 

Here we have met, here we may part. 

To meet on earth no more, 
And some may never see again 

The cherished homes of yore ; 
The sportive plays and pleasant days 

Of childhood's auld lang syne— 
We ne'er shall meet to know a-^ain 

Those joys of auld lang syne. 

But when we've crossed the sea of life 

And reached the heav'nly shore, 
We'll sing the songs our fathers sing. 

Transcending those of yore ; 
We there shall sing diviner strains 

Than those of auld lang syne — 
Immortal songs of praise, unknown 

In days of auld lang syne. 

The President stated that he was compelled to make an 
announcement that wouki undoubtedly be paintul to all: 
Grace Greenwood can not l^e present. He tlien read the 
following telegram: — "It is impossible for me to be with 
you to-day, my aged motlier is not well enough." — Grace 
Greenwood. 

The President then announced that Mrs. Dr. H. V. Mil- 
ler, of Syracuse, would read a paper of " Eeminiscences of 
Pompey," in place of the poem bj' Grace Greenwood. 

Mrs. Miller then read as follows: — 

It is related by that tamous traveler. Bayard Taylor, that 
far up among the fastnesses of the Pyrenees he found a race 
of sturdy mountaineers, who for centuries have preserved 
intact a Republican form ot government, despite the threats 
of the two Despotisms of France and Spaiu, that crouch ou 
either hand. Strong only in their patriotism and their nat- 
ural defences, they have defied intrigue, diplomacy and 



28 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

brute force, and still maintained the letter and spirit of a 
pure Republic. The same traveler tells us of a similar in- 
stance among the Alps, where he found in the "little Land 
of Appenzell,'' a hardy nation, of limited numbers, but 
strong in the patriotic principle, and the love of freedom, 
who refuse even to join the confederacy which unites the 
Cantons around tliem; whose rulers are chosen directly by 
the people, and who have preserved, along with their free 
institutions, a simplicity of life and manners almost pat- 
riarchal. 

When the shores of what is now Great Britain were in- 
vaded by foreign hordes, first of Saxons and afterwards of 
]S[ormans, the Cymry, the ancient people of Wales, retreat- 
ed to their mountain fastnesses, and long after the plains 
had become the pre}- of the invaders, they retained their 
independence, and only yielded when war and liardship had 
reduced the race nearly to extinction. 

From these, and other similar facts, we cannot resist the 
conclusion that the continuous toil of a mountaineer's life, 
the contest with the elements that rage unobstructed around 
the high lands, the daily habit of climbing and overcoming 
obstacles, and above all, the pure and invigorating air of 
the hills, tend to develope strength of character, indepen- 
dence of thought and action, sturdiness of purpose, and 
physical force, as well. 

It is said that during the Crimean war, the regiments of 
Scotch Highlanders were so aflected by home sickness, that 
the regimental bands were forbidden to play the national 
airs, "Bonnie Doon" and "Annie Laurie," so greatly were 
the spirits and health of the men affected by the remem- 
brance of their native land. I believe it is an acknowledged 
fact that love of home prevails most powerful!}' witli those 
born and reared among the hills. This numerous assem- 
blage of the sons and daughters of the hills, who have 
gathered from all points of the compass to this common 
center, like pilgrims to a holy city, is proof that we are true 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 29 

to oar instincts; that though some of us have felt iti former 
times, and while under the spui- of youthful ambition, that 
"Pompey was rather slow," that "^\ve wanted to get awav 
from this knoll,*' still the home of our childhood has power 
to win us for a time from the pursuit of fame, or wealtli, or 
pleasure. 

And the noticeable fact, that of all this crowd so large a pro- 
portion have won for themselves a competence of this world's 
goods; so many have become men of mark in our country's 
annals; so many have helped to raise the general average 
of morality and prosperity in the community at large, goes 
far to prove the correctness of the conclusion that a youth 
passed among the hills is a good preparation for the arena 
of life. 

In the case of many here present, Acars have passed since 
they parted from the home of their youth, while others have 
by frequent visits, kept fresh and bright the links of mem- 
ory's chain. With all of us it is love and loyalty to old 
Pompey that brings us here. I remember, some years since 
— when House's Printing Telegraph Avas first invented — be- 
ing taken by a friend to the office in Syracuse, to inspect its 
operations. My friend introduced me to the operator as 
from Pompey, whereupon the latter telegraphed my name 
and address to the office in Rochester; in a few minutes the 
answer was unrolled before me, it ran thus: — "God bless 
old Pompey! Are the old wind mills standing ^-et?" It 
seemed as if I could see that man swing his hat as he gave 
that telegraphic cheer for his old home, and though I liave 
forgotton his name I cherish for him a kindly feeling still. 
Many such pleasant surprises I have enjoyed, when by a 
\Tord and a grap of the hand old associations have been 
called up, and long buried memories revived, I have stood 
in a crowd of strangers, and felt all the dreariness incident 
to such a position entire!}- dispelled, when some familiar 
voice has said "I used to know you in Pompey!" or, "I was 
in the same class with you in school !" 



30 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

We are proud of our native town, and it is an honest, well 
grounded pride that we cherish. The annals Ijoth of our 
State and nation, bear lionorable witness of the part her 
sons have borne in the history of both. We are proud of 
her far-reaching landscapes, of her broad emerald slopes, 
now bathed in sunshine, and now swept by the trailing skirts 
of a passing cloud; of her atmosphere of such crystalinc 
purity that objects which are miles away "as the crow flies," 
seem at the distance of only a few minutes walk. Down 
vonder among the "low landers," we boast even of her 
superior snow drifts, though we are not anxious to lace them, 
and until lately we have been ready to venture our last dol- 
lar that Pompey icinds cannot be beaten. But this summer 
a son-in-laio of Pompey has found a place near the summit 
of the Eocky Mountains, where a head wind absolutely 
stopped the train. Now we are forced to acknowledge that 
no Pornpeu lireeze was ever known to brow beat a train so 
as to force it to a stand still; possibly, because no railroad 
■ever ventured to climb her heights. So that, for the pre- 
sent, Pompey meekly yields the pre-eminence in this respect 
to her Pocky sisters across the continent. 

I have heard the following anecdote, which illustrates this 
feeling of pride and attachment to Pompey: In the town 
of Lysander, lived some years ago, a blacksmith known as 
"Dutch Jake ;" around him had settled several farmers who 
had emigrated from Pompey, and wljo were accustomed 
frequently to apply to him for work in his line. They were 
not satisfied with his work, however, and did not hesitate 
to decb\re it inferior to simihir w^ork done in Pompey. On 
one occasion "Dutch Jake" lost patience at a remark of 
this kind, and exclaimed with emphasis, "Its all Pompey! 
Pompey! I believe you folks dat come from Pompey, you 
links i/oH [JO to Pornpcu vcn you die .'" 

In the early history of this region, this town held a con- 
spicuous position. The reputation of the place for wealth, 
intelligence and refinement, and the energy and talent of 
its principal men, called hither a great amount of business, 



THE POMPEY RE UNION. :^1 

and made it a sort of couiniereial emporium tor the country 
around. I remember to have heard from the lips of the 
hite Squire M. Brown, of Elbridge, accounts of his frequent 
journeys hither when a young man, with loads of grain 
from the farms of his father and his uncles, the Munroes of 
Elbridge and Camillus, this place being their most accessi- 
ble market. Here they sold their grain to Henry Seymour 
and carried back groceries, dry goods, &c., purchased of 
him. The old wind mills near the academy were erected 
by Mr. Seymour for grinding purposes, and supplied the 
needs of the inhabitants for a long time. 

The following facts (obtained from Samuel Baker, Esq.,) 
concerning the tirst church organized here, will show tliat 
the early settlers here were men of good moral and relisrious 
principles and energy and perseverance to carry out the plans. 
The First Congregational church of Pompey Avas formed 
October 19th, 1796, by Rev. Ammi R. Robinson, pastor of 
the church in i^orfolk. Conn., and comprised twenty-two 
members. Its first deacons were Levi Jerome and Daniel 
Dunham. It tirst settled minister was the Rev. Joseph Gil- 
bert, whose remains lie interred in the village cemetery. 
In 1803 the Rev. Hugh Wallis was installed as pastor, and 
in the year 1810 the church became a member of the Onon- 
daga Presbytery. About this time the Rev. Artemas Bishop, 
a native of this place and a pupil of the academy, was sent 
by the American Board as a missionary to the Sandwich 
Islands and is now living there. In the ^-ear 1836 Mrs. 
Crane (Julia Ostrander) went with her Inisband as a mission- 
ary to India. As fruits of the religious training of this 
church and the academy, we offer the following list of faith- 
ful ministers of the Gospel who have gone out from our 
midst: — Rev. Jared Ostrander, Rev. Charles Jerome, Rev^ 
H. C. Haydeii, Rev. Carlos Swift, and Rev. Delos E. Wells. 

The large folio Bible given to the churcli by Mr. Henry 
Seymour at the time of its dedication, remains in a good 
state of preservation, although made to give place to a more 



32 THE POMPEY RE-l•^^IO^^ 

]iiO(lern one, which, with a handsome silver commnnion 
service, was given by another sister in the cluircli. 

For many years the above cluircli A\'as the only one in tlie 
place; but in process of time three others have been organ- 
ized, and now occupy their respective places of worship. 
From these facts it will l>e seen that this first church must 
have exercised a powerful influence upon the early moral 
and religious character of the community. 

To the high standard of education, also, which prevailed 
here at an early date, may be attributed much of the iniiu- 
ence which the children of Poinpey have exerted in the 
(;ommunity at large. In regard to schools, she has been the 
pioneer, having established the first academy in this region. 
The original building was erected about 1805, stood nearly 
upon tlie site of the present edifice, and by one whose early 
vears were largely passed within its walls, is described as 
follows :^A frame building, two stories high, and painted 
yellow. On the first floor were two rooms, used respective- 
ly as a high school and a district school. On the second 
Hoor was a large room, used as occasion required, for a town- 
hall or chapel. Up to the time that the present church edi- 
fice was built, in 1817, the Congregational society worshipped 
in it, and my informant retains a vivid remembrance of its 
bare walls and its uncomfortable high-backed pine benches, 
where he spent the time of service in vain endeavors to touch 
the floor with feet and to see the minister over the shoulders 
of his grown-up neiohbors. 

In this room, the Rev. Joshua Leonard, (more familiarly 
known as "Uncle Jock,'') preached on the Sabbath, greatly 
to the edification of his hearers, for he was a man of great 
eloquence and power; but during the week he presided over 
the youth of the community, congregated in tlie room be- 
low. It is related of him that he always prayed with open 
eyes, and generally standing in front of the large open fire- 
place by which the school room was warmed. On one oc- 
casion a young man, a new scholar, entered the room while 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 88 

tlio Keverend teacher was engaged in the opening pmver. 
While the stranger waited near the lire place for the conclu- 
sion of tiie exercise, a roguish boy, tlie son of the principal, 
stepped slyl}' behind him and dropped a live coal into iiis 
o})en hand. Uncle Jock, whose watchful eyes saw the per- 
formance, broke oif his prayer, administered condign [>un- 
ishment to the ofi'onder, then quietly resumed, the broken 
thread of his devotions, and finished as if there had been no 
interruption. 

Edward Aiken, Flavins Littlejohn, (a brother of D. C. 
Littkyohn, of Oswego, who afterwards "i^ecame a noted law- 
yer of Michigan,) Henry Howe, since for twenty-tive years 
a teacher of youtli in Canandaigua, and Andrew Hunting- 
ton, were Mr. Leonard's successors in the old academy. It 
was under the tuition of Mr. Leonard that Charles Mason 
and Seabred Dodge received their thorough mathematical 
training, which fitted them for the responsible positions 
which they have since filled. 

In tlie new academy, built in 1834, we, of later days, recall 
Samuel S. Stebbins, classical and stately; Ensign Baker, 
renowned for his hobl)ies, successively, of elocution, agri- 
cultural chemistry, and — circular swbifjs ! T. Iv. Wright, emi- 
nent as a drill-sergeant, and a host of younger men, whose 
term of ofiice were so short that they failed to impress the 
public memory as did the earlier'teachers. 

Among those who presided over the female department 
in the new academy may be mentioned Miss Anne Hopkins, 
afterwards the wife of Professor Kendrick, of Rochester; 
sweet, saintly Harriet Kand, Avhose blessed influences liave 
not yet ceased to echo in the hearts of her pupils; Mrs. 
Elizabeth Stone, late Mrs. Niven, whose dignity and rare 
culture still grace the society of Syracuse : Julia Reynolds, 
whose magnificent physique, winning ways and charming 
conversational powers secure for her the admiration of all 
who know her; and Adelia Payson, who, a few years since, 
left a large circle of friends and pupils to bear the tidings of 
a free gospel to the women of China. 



•■34 THE POMPEY HE-UNION. 

A few facts in regiird to the district and select scliools, 
held here at an early date, may be of interest. Before the 
year 1800 a school was taught in a log house near where 
Colonel Kellogg's house now stands. Miss Llicy Jerome, 
afterwards tlie wife of James S. Geddcs, and mother of Hon. 
George Gcddes, of Camillus, was the lirst teacher. Later, 
a frame building was erected upon the village green, about 
due west from the hotel. In this building a district school 
was taught by Leman H. Pitcher, father of L. B. Pitcher, of 
Salina. It is supposed that about the year 1801, Miss Hepey 
Beeber taught this school. Merrit Butler remembers that 
his father, one of the trustees, sent him for her with a horse, 
to her home on Xewnuin's Hill, and that he rode home be- 
hind her. When the first academy was built, the district 
school was removed thither, and Manoah Pratt, Daniel F. 
Gott and James Robinson, were among the teachers. 

One of the earliest select scliools was taught by Miss Phil- 
ene Ilascall, afterwards Mrs. Samuel Baker, in the front 
chamber of wluit was known as the " Joe Colton " house, 
afterwards occupied by Dr. Stearns, and later still by Joseph 
Beacli. Anotlier was taught about 1819, by Charlotte Hop- 
kins, (Mrs. Beardsley) in the north west room of the hotel 
kept by her father. Col. Hezekiah Hopkins. 

In these two schools, Charles B. and Henry J. Sedgwick, 
Mary, Sophia and Horatio Seymour, Victory J. and Ellen 
Birdseye, Charles, Richard and William Stevens, Cornelia 
Stearns, and many others, who are now in the prime and 
vigor of life, received their erirliestinstruction. Later, prob- 
ably, about forty -live years ago, Miss Rowena Wells, (Mrs. 
Jared Ostrauder,) taught a select school in the upper story 
of the building next north of the church, known as the Stev- 
ens house. The family chronicle of the writer abounds in 
anecdotes of this institution, only one of which will be re- 
corded here. One of the numerous sons of the family, had 
received in his face a paper wad, skillfidly snapped by his 
next neighbor, who immediately became absorbed in his 
studies, and kept his face buried in his book that he might 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 35 

not be exposed to a return of tlie compliment. The other 
urchin prepared his paper missile and awaited liis oppor- 
tunity but none came. The little fellow tried various strata, 
gems to no purpose, and at last in his ecstasy of impatience 
resorted to extreme measures, "Miss Rowena, Miss Rowena." 
he called out, "Mayn't Dave Porter look here ? " "Dave 
Porter, look there I " replied the teacher. Dave did look, 
and received lull compensation for the injury he had inflicted, 
whereupon order was restored and the operations of the 
school resumed. 

The district school house, from about the year 1820 to 
1845, stood west of Dr. Stearns' office. In this building 
many present will remember, as among the teachers, Asa H, 
Wells, Calvin S. P>all, Jno. Doolett, Alfred Sloan, and Harry 
GifFord. Since this latter Iniildingiell to decay a more com- 
modious one has been built on the opposite side of the 
street, which "was burned down in the year 1867, and re- 
placed in 1868 by the purchase and remodeling of the church 
near by. 

Thus have I endeavored in brief to span the interval l»e- 
tween the present and the rapidly receding past ; to otter 
some slight tribute to the memory of those who have borne 
a part in preparing the children of Ponipey for positions of 
responsibility. The task has been a pleasant one, and lov- 
ingly performed. 

To the aged who in spite of the burden of years and in- 
iirmit.'es have come to visit the scenes of their past, this day 
must wear a tinge of sadness, for of many whom they once 
knew and loved, the only memento they will find will be a 
monument on yonder marl)le-crowned hill-top. Let us who 
are in life's prime, go forth to our toils, refreshed by the air 
of our native hills, cheered by the greeting of old friends, 
remembering that " old age creeps on apace," and to us, the 
time may come, when the scenes of middle life will, to our 
backward vision, grow dim and indistinct, compared with 
the vividness with which we shall recall the scenes of our 
early years. 



36 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

At the close of Mrs. Miller's pupor, the (piartette from 
Syracuse, Joseph Durston, Mrs. S. B. Wood, Mr. and Mrs. 
J. E. Van Cleeck, sang withthrillino; effect, " We have come 
to our homes in the old Empire State." 

The President next announced that they were fortunate 
in having one of Pompey's younger sons present who had 
been remarkably busy since he had gone forth from his old 
home to the busy w^orld. He had represented a distant State, 
on the Pacific coast, and more recently had been a member 
of the Joint High Commission, and his name would be 
handed down to future generations in enduring remembrance. 
He introduced Senator George H. Williams. 

SPEECH OF SENATOR WILLIAMS. 

Mr. Chairman and Friends : — 

One of our distinguished poets has written beautifully of 
the " Voices of the Night," but under some circumstances 
the daytime too, has its voices, and from the suggestive sur- 
roundings of this da}^ I seem to hear a voice saying, " Back- 
ward, flow Backward, Oh tide of the years." Our lives, it 
appears to me, may properly be divided into two periods. 
One is when every thought, passion and emotion of our na- 
tures is absorbed in visions of tlie future — sorrow, repen- 
tance and regret for misfortunes, misdeeds or mistakes suf- 
fered or committed are then unknown — our life appears to 
be spread out before us like a beautiful panorama, in which 
Ave see the green fields, the flowery pathways, the bright 
and cloudless skies, but in which, the pitfalls, the thorny 
acclivities, the clouds and darkness, are artfully concealed 
from our view. This was the period of life through which 
I passed in the town of Pompey. Imagination easily carries 
me back from this stand point to that time, when I was one 
of those poetically described as " whining school boys," 
with satchels and shining morning faces creeping to school. 
The tender associations, the hajtpy scenes and the sportive 
incidents of my boyhood now comes back to me, like the 



THE POMPEY RE UNION. 37 

half remembered pictures of a morning dream. Life tlieii 
was little more than a succession of ecstatic sensations. 

Whether I chased the buttertiies in the summer sunshine, 
or like Maud Muller " raked the meadow sweet with hay," 
or whether I toiled through the snow to my allotted labor, 
or joined in the pastime of snowballing or sleigh-riding meta- 
phisically speaking there was ." no snow in my song or win- 
ter in my year.'' Well do I remember the day when like 
another youth of whom we read bearing aloft a banner with 
the strange device, " Excelsior," I come up from the district 
school of the country to the Academy on the Plill — yon- 
der stands the old Academy — foundation and superstruc- 
ture, walls and windows, roof and belfry as they were 
more than twenty years ago. Unattractive and inanimate 
that time-worn and weather beaten pile of stone and mor- 
tar seems to be, but every crevice and nook and corner 
is quick with the memories of youthful friends and by -gone 
years. They inhabit every room. They occupy every seat. 
They sit at every desk. They are regular at the morning 
prayer and at the recitation. They are as bright and joyous 
as ever. Unseen and unheard, they i>{en\ out of those por- 
tals with which so many of us are familiar, to take part in 
the proceedings of this day. Many things crowd upon my 
mind from the reminiscences of that old Academy, but none 
are more prominent or pleasing than those connected with 
its then flourishing Lyceum. The beauty and the chivalry 
of Pompey were accustomed to meet there. Debate was not 
confined to tliose connected Avith the school ; but Gott, 
plausible, persuasive and eloquent, Birdseyo, always law- 
yer-like and logical. Dodge, with his strong practical views, 
appeared upon that arena of intellectual comliat. They were 
" giants in those daA's," as it then appeared to me, and I still 
think that their speeches compared favorably with those I 
have heard in bodies of much higher pretensions. I liave 
met with a reasonable share of success and prosperity since 
I left this town, but whenever I review my life, I always 



38 THE POMPEY RE-UNIOX. 

decide that the happiest of its days are those I passed in the 
Pompey Academy. 

Circumstances of fortune as many of you know were not 
very favorable, but I had a heart for controversy with these. 
Spurning all such embarrassments, I only looked up that lad- 
der which I had set out to climb, whose top appeared to 
penetrate the shining temples of fortune and fame. Time 
and experience have satisfied i?ie, I am sorry to say, that the 
enjoyments of this world unmixed with trouble, are found 
more than elsewhere in these illusions of early life. When 
I considered myself suthciently prepared I applied to one 
with whose name most of you are familiar, and whose memo- 
ry I shall always revere, to pursue the study of the law in 
his office. Do you know said he, in answer to the applica- 
tion, " How long Jacob was compelled to serve for his wife 
Rachel ? " Being a little more familiar with the scriptures 
then than I am now, I was quite ready with the answer. 

He then said what I have since found to be true, that the 
law for its favors demanded the same tidelit}- and devotion 
that Jacob displayed for Rachel, and })ointed out with pater- 
nal kindness the difficulties and discouragements I would 
have to encounter. 1 1 old him that my resolution was made 
and could not be changed ; three years for the most part of 
the time, I passed in his presence, and among the books of 
his office, and I can onl}' say that if Jacob enjoyed his ser- 
vice for Rachel as much as I did then my service for the law, 
it is probable that he was quite as happy in his protracted 
courtship as he was in his wedded life. (Laughter and ap- 
plause.) I ventured, about the time I decided to be a law- 
yer, to visit the Court House, in Syracuse, while the Circuit 
Court was in session. Judge Moseley was presiding, his 
hair was as white as silver, and he was the very personifica- 
tion of Judicial propriety. Around him andintlie bar were 
Noxon, Lawrence, Hillis, Gott, Birdseye, with other lawyers, 
and bailiffs, with long pikes, moved around with noiseless 
steps to preserve perfect order and stillness in Court. I can 
remember how much I was overawed by that presence, and 



THE POMI^EY l3E-UNioN. 3^' 

Avhat misgivings crossed my mind as to whether I could ever 
appear with credit to myself in such a forum. 

I am reminded of my first and greatest professional vic- 
torj-. One citizen of this town sued another to recover the 
value of a horse gored to death, as it was alleged, hy an un- 
ruly ox. Mr. Gott, my preceptor in the law, appeared for 
the plaintiff' and I was employed by the defendant. My 
point to defeat the action was not that the ox did not gore 
the horse but that tiie owner of the ox did not know at the 
time that he was a vicious animal. I marshalled my au- 
thorities and made a desperate effort for my client, l)ut no 
Pompey jury could withstand the persuasive powers of Mr. 
Gott and he reovered a judgment of eighty dollars. Confi- 
dent that I was right, I appealed the case to the Common^ 
Pleas. James R. Lawrence, Esq., represented me as I was 
not then admitted to practice. Failing theie as in the Court 
below, to prove the scienter on his motion, Judge Pratt non- 
suited the plaintitt" and I had won the case. No doubt the 
Emperor William was proud to witness the triumphal entry 
into Berlin of his victorious legions returning from the con- 
quest of France, but it is not at all probable that he expe- 
rienced that keen sense of pride and satisfaction which I felt 
at this my first professional victory. (Laughter and ap- 
plause.) 

When I reached the age of twenty-one, I applied for ad- 
mission to the Common Pleas of this county : Judge Pratt 
appointed a committee for my examination, of Avhich the 
Hon. C. B. Sedgwick was chairman. I appeared before 
that committee with fear and trembling. The chairman en- 
quired what I would do to collect fees for professional ser- 
vices wdiich were not voluntarily paid. I made as I suppose, 
a satisfactory answer, and was admitted, and I have since 
found that one of the first accomplishments of a lawyer is to 
know how to collect his own fees. (Laughter and applause.) 

Twenty-seven years ago, wdth the proof in my pocket that 
I was a lawyer, signed by Judge Pratt, and a small library 
of law books, I started in that direction in which it is said, 



40 THE POMPEY HE-UNION. 

" The star of Empire takes its way." I have many reasons 
to believe that I was accompanied by the good wishes of 
those who had kno^n me here. One act of generous kind- 
ness I cannot forbear to mention upon this occasion. De- 
termined to go west, I had neither money or books. David 
P. Dodge and John S. Wells borrowed for me what money 
I needed. I repaid the money within three years, but the 
debt of gratitude I can never pa}'. Twenty-seven years ago 
is aii expression that forcibly and in some cases sorrowfully 
suggests to the mind the idea of cliange ; what changes have 
occurred since 1844? Some who were then in their nurse's 
arms I now see before me full grown men and women. 
Some who were then boys and girls I now find presiding 
over flourishing households. Some who were then in the 
prime and vigor of middle life, now bend under the weight 
of accumulated years, and not a few have passed away to 

" The land of the great dei)arted ; 
Into the silent lands." 

When I left Syracuse in the canal Ijoat that was to carry 
me away from friends and liorae, the convention b}' which 
Silas Wright was nominated for Governor, was then and 
there in session. lie is dead, and so are most of tlie great 
men associated witli him in the government of the country. 
Parties and opinions have changed wonderfully since that 
time. Administrations have come and gone. War has 
stricken the land with its multiform afHictions. Great dis- 
coveries in science and art have been made. Tch'graphic 
wires have been stretched across the ocean. Thousands of 
miles have been added to our railway system. Six times 
have I crossed from ocean to ocean, on the trans-continenta! 
railroad. Many new States have been added to the Li"nion, 
two of which I have helped to make.. Our country, though 
not without some suffering, has grown greatl^y in wealth, 
power and glorj'. I believe in freedom, education and pro- 
gress, and have faith, though the indications are not always 
favorable, that mankind is slowly but surely advancing to a 
higher and better plane of existence. I have said that 



THE I'OMPEY RE-UNION. 41 

life may be divided into two periods. One is, -wlien the 
prospective absorbs all, and the otlier is, when the faculties 
of the mind loosening their liold upon the future, seek pleas- 
ure in a retrospective view of passed events. I will not say 
on which side of the line separating these two periods, I 
stand, but I am obviously near enough to it, to find my at- 
tention divided between what of the past isunforgotten, and 
what of the future is unrevealed. 

Time and change have scattered many of the associates of 
my early life far and near. Some have gone in one direc- 
tion and some another, and I have found a home upon the 
shores of the Pacific ocean. I live in a populous and flour- 
ishing city, where but a few years ago rolled " tlie distant 
Oregon and heard no sound save the dash of its OAvn waters." 
I would not entice any away from the good old town of Pom- 
pey, but if any of you are disposed to emigrate, I invite you 
to the land where I live. Come where a great, genial ocean, 
snow-capped mountains, majestic rivers, with woodland and 
[>rairie will give you every variety of soil, climate and scene- 
ry. Oregon is not a land " floAving with milk and honey," 
Itut it is a land of health, plenty and beauty. This is a re- 
union of the old residents of Pompey. Some have come 
here from the " cool seq.uestered vales," and others from the 
conflicts of professional and public life. All are here to re- 
vive old associations, renew old acc[uaintances and especially 
to do honor to our old home ; various have been my expe- 
riences since I left here, I have been inthewdiirl and vortex 
of political life, I have lived thousands of miles away, but I 
have never forgotten my old i'riends in Pompey, or " the old 
folks at home." Accept my greetings and congratulations, 
i am about to return to my distant home upon the Pacific, 
l)Ut I shall remember tliis occasion with pleasure, and as 
lon<; as I live, shall cherish the hope that peace, plenty 
and happiness may be and remain in the old town of Pom- 
pey. 

After music by the band the President stated, I have now 
the pleasure of introducing to you one whose boyhood was 



42 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

spent in this village, and all present who then resided here 
will quickly recall the pleasant recollections of his active^ 
sportive young life; and I will only say that the physical 
energy and intellectual promise thus early manifested have 
developed into the successful competitor among the gifted 
intellects of our great Metropolis, for the highest honors of 
his profession. I refer to Hon. Luther Eawson Marsh, of 
New York. 

REMARKS OF LUTPIER R. MARSH. 

My Townsmen, old and young, one and all : 

I am glad, this day, to meet you; glad to talk with you 
of the present and the past ; and, in doing so, we should miss,, 
to some extent, the object of our brotherly reunion if we did 
not gossip a little of ourselves, and push our personalities 
somewhat to the front. Let us then commune in treedom 
and with unconstrained joy. 

It is curious to notice how a little town like this will ramify 
its influence through all the land, and bind itself with every 
part of the country. What portion of the Union, ]Srorth or 
South, or on either ocean — what essential business or inter- 
est, private or public, but is represented here to-day ? ' 

These town celebrations have, of late, come much in vogue 
amongst the old settlements of ll^s^ew England — a custom that 
should extend throughout the land. They have an interest 
beyond the pleasure ot the meeting and the renewal of 
broken ties ; they are the best historians, gathering nuiterials 
for the home life of the nation ; they help to collect and 
preserve the facts and domestic reminiscences connected 
with the starting and growth of our country, as the line of 
population, with a rapidity unknown in history, advanced 
across the continent. Every town may thus contribute its 
quota ; and, ere those who saw the beginning are removed, 
their memories are evoked and recorded. 

Though we stand, now, on land so recently reclaimed from 
aboriginal sway, and though we are assembled on the One 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 43. 

Hill, and not on the ancient Seven, yet are^ve on classic 
ground. We meet at the villas of Powpey. We bear 
the name of him — a foremost soldier of the world — at the 
stamp of Avhose foot armies arose, and at the base of whose 
statue "great Caesar fell." Our allies are near; and our 
Eoman friends, like sentinels, are all around ns — Fahius and 
Tally , Marcellus and Cicero^ Qrmillus and JIardius Torquafus — 
Avhile within our Eastern l)order, we ma}' consult the mvstic 
utterances of Delphi 

Nor is the history of our town so recent as it seems. The 
mists of antiquity rest upon it. It was by no means the be- 
ginning when the present dynasty started here. There had 
been enacted, in this locality, at some period of the un- 
known past, events which no pen has written and no tradi- 
tion preserved. Generations and races have preceded us 
on this chosen spot and disappeared. Whence they came, 
whither Avent,is not yet ascertained ; mystery enclouds their 
origin, their life and their departure; conjecture starts her 
various theories, but authentic history is silent. The evi- 
dences of a former population, nowwholl} extinct, are thick 
around us. A second growth of trees, of such age and mag- 
nitude as to take rank with the original forest, astonished 
those who thought they had come to a place entirely new. 
If, when we were boys and girls, a museum had been estab- 
lished here to hold the reliques discovered in our soil, this 
would have been a famous resort for the curious and scien- 
tific. Here would have remained your stone tablet of Anno 
Domini, 1550, now reposing in the Institute at Albany, whose 
hieroglyphs so many Champollions have endeavored to de- 
cipher. Here would have been collected not only the rude 
arrow-heads and granite tomahawks of the savage, but the 
proofs of aformer and unkn own civilization — the black- 
smith's forge, iron implements of husbandry, fragments of 
earthenware and church bells, and numerous coins and med- 
als, whose devices and inscriptions age has obliterated. 
Long before the ancestors of the present residents clambered 
here — long before the time when a bounty of five dollars 



44 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

was oft'ered tki- a wolf's scalp — there was imbedded in the 
soil, since upturned by the coulter, not only the utensils of 
peace but the weapons of civilized warfare — if warfare can 
be said ever to be civilized — guns, and cannon, and cannon 
ball ; indicating advance in the arts both of living and kill- 
i ng ; showing that wherever man goes cruelty goes with him ; 
and that he is ever ready to unite the elements of destruc- 
tion with those of progress. It Avas because of this profu- 
sion of antiquities, no. doubt, that, after modern chisels had 
done their artistic work, the soil of our town was chosen for 
the clandestine deposit of the Gypsum Giant; but he was a 
stranger, not a native — not indigenous, but imported — tlie 
only humbug, as with due modesty we claim, Pompey ever 
turned out. 

How different the scene this day from that presented to 
our fathers, as, at the close of the last century and the be- 
ginning of this, they clomlj these hills, to plant here a new 
communitv. There were no roads to guide them up the 
wooded acclivity but the Onondaga's trail. Soon, hov/ever, 
they mingled the echoes of their industrious axes Avith the 
roar of the wild beast and the sigh of the wind. Cleared 
fields appeared. Fruit-bearing trees supplanted the tower- 
ing monarch, and grass and grain invited the sickle. The 
red man and the wolf, who had so long held a divided do- 
minion, retired before the rifle and the plow — reluctantly 
retired, for some still lingered to a recent day. The Indian, 
with his warnpumed moccasins and beaded leggings, his sil- 
ver-banded liat and ornamented ears, his blanket and liis 
bow, yet remain, vivid frescoes on the walls of our memory ; 
and some present, no doubt, remember when Bruin came 
over the hill, strolling and swaying leisurely on the green, 
iis if to attend town meeting, then in progress. But, though 
native born, he was not permitted to exercise the rights of 
citizenship till he had shown a prowess worthy of it. Ac- 
cordingly, Major Case, the consta1)]e, stepped forth to test 
his credentials. The amiable visitor rose on his haunches 
to give the bailiff welcome, quickly struck his extemporized 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 45 

tip-stafi" from his grasp, and gave him the bear salute — a 
back-hiig so pressing as to leave no doubt of its cordiality. 
Old Ilawkeye, himself, would never have tempted it a second 
time. Possibly the grizzly stranger may have anticipated 
the service of some process upon him — for Bears, even to 
tins day, in Wall street, sometimes receive such documents — 
as he put his mark of cancellation, like a railroad conductor, 
through many a summons and execution in the officer's 
pocket-book, till Ins teeth met in the Major's breast; who 
onl}^ escaped (to die from his wounds some three years after) 
when the axe of'Canfield Marsli sank in the victor's skull. 

The new settlement grew and Hourished. Adventurous 
men and women, chiefly from the Xew England hive, came 
hither — bringing with them the Yankee's outfit of good 
habits, indomitable pluck, and a desire for education. This 
lovely village arose, cresting the mount, near two thousand 
feet above the sea — so high, tliat no Vesuvius can ever 
shower it, like ancient rompeii, with its ashes; an elevation 
from which e^-e-shot ma}- sometimes touch the blue of 
(Ontario, some "fifty nnles away ; nested here, as it seemed, 
where old Hyem lived and feathered down his "beautiful 
snow ;" where two fountains, but a few rods apart, and bub- 
bling from the same field, send their sparkling salutations to 
the ocean — one, through the Susquehanna and the Chesa- 
peake, the other coasting the thousand isles of the St. Law- 
rence. It soon became a centre of influence ; men of character 
and might, and genuine grit, were developed. For years this 
village was a power in the politics of the Count}' and the 
State. When, some forty-seven years ago, a Senator from 
Onondaga applied to the Council of Appointment, at 
Albany, for the re-appointment of one Luther Marsh to the 
office of High Sherift', DeWitt Clinton slapped him on the 
knee, saying: "Squire Birdseye, I wish you to understand, 
that the good people on Pom[)ey Hill cannot have all the 
offices in the State of New York." 

I fancy, however, that the Sheriff received liis re-appoint- 
ment, for as he was riding tln'ough Christian Hollow — as 



46 THE POMPEV RE-UNION. 

Edwards states in his "Pleasantries of the Bar" — he saw a 
man in tiie tield suddenly drop liis lioe and run for the 
woods. The officer quickly dismounted, tied liis horse to 
the fence and gave pursuit. After a long; chase he eaptured 
the panting fugitive, who gasped that it was Avhat he feared. 
"Well," said the Sheriff, "I liave no process against you 
now, but I thought I would let you know that :f I ever 
■should have, it wouldnt do you aivj good to run.'' 

He was a man, I think, of pretty strono- impulses. Mr. 
Sedgwick has just told me that, at a time happily now past, 
when political hostility implied personal as well, a bitter 
■opponent, who was usually kept in salutary restraint by the 
will and physical endowments of the Sheriff', presumed, on 
the occasion of seeing a wounded right arm in a sling, to 
press his personalities so far that he received an argurnoituni 
ad hoininem from the left, which sent him not only against 
but through the door — latch and hasp and hinge giving 
way — and the offender fell, at full length, in an adjoining 
room. 

At another time, Mr. Sedgwick tells me, a Deacon from 
a distant part of the town, while waiting for blacksmitli 
Davis's services, was accustomed to tie his team to one of a 
cherished row of sapling maples — now, as you can see, quite 
fully grown — which the Sheriff had planted in front of his 
house. One of them was nearly girdled Ijy the teeth of the 
horses, at which the Deacon received an indignant remon- 
strance and prohibition. The next time he came to town, 
however, he repeated the offence, whereat the Sheriff cut 
the reins and let the horses run. Fortunatel}-, only the 
-wagon was seriously damaged ; but the lesson was thorougly 
taught, and the Deacon, ever after, gave a wide Ijerth to the 
maples. 

The Academy of Pompey — to build and maintain which 
the early settlers, with a large wisdom, sacrificed so much — 
was presided over by a succession of accomplished scholars. 
Among, and of the earliest of them, the liev. Joshua Leon- 
,ard, remarkable as a linguist and mathematician — with a 



THE POMPEY RE-UNIOX. 47 

condensing engine in liis head — and of so sweet a voice that 
when from the pulpit he gave out his favorite hymn, Wes- 
ley's, "Jesus, lover of my soul," and joined in singing it, 
both audience and choir stopped, entranced, that they might 
hear the minister carry it through alone. He was succeeded 
by Rev. Eleazar S. Barrows, a sermonizer of much power. 
Dr. Edward Aiken, Henry Howe and Flavins Josephus Lit- 
tlejohn. This institution, standing so long alone in Central 
and Western New York, drew to this conspicuous summit 
crowds of youth from the surrounding counties. 

When Victory Birdseye, with his large and accurate learn- 
ing, and the eloquent Baldwins, and Sedgwick, a man of 
strength, and Daniel Gott, with memory of steel and voice 
of deep and solemn music, displayed their powers before a 
Justice of the Peace, the entertainment richly repaid the 
thronged attendance. 

Hej'e Henry Seymour, that eourtl}' gentlennm, laid the 
foundations of the fortunes, social and political, of tlie fu- 
ture Governor. 

But new times came on. Great arterial thoroughfares 
were established on easier grades, and our native village 
has been compelled to stand aside, somewhat solitary in her 
loftiness and her lovliness, and see the increasing inland 
travel and freightage of the country passing by her, as, in 
its transit between the commercial East and the abounding 
West, it veined the distant valleys. The law of gravitation 
is a mighty agency in advancing or retarding the growth of 
localities, and determining the routes of trade. We may 
not soon expect to see a railroad depot on the top of Holy- 
oke, nor cotton mills on Mount Washington. A position 
in alliance with the eternal laws of Nature receives perpet- 
ual aid from an exhaustless fund in the sky. And so it has 
occurred that our native peak, though rejoicing in its beau- 
ty, its fertility, its healthfulness and its traditions, has not 
been able to solicit the currents of modern traffic up its 
steep sides. They seek, rather, the furrowed channels and 
the level plains. 



48 THE POMPEY KE-UXION. 

And therefore, also, has it happened tliat through the last 
half century, Pompey has sent away so many of her sons 
and daughters, to fulfil, elsewhere, their variousi spheres of 
duty; taking nothing from the honiestead but the (h)wry of 
good birth, fair education and strong constitutions — the last 
not the least in the long struggle of life. In a letter from a 
brother on the Pacific coast, he says: "Though the frosts 
arc on my head I feel like a '■colt.' " I must confess to some- 
thing of tlie same exuberance, as if the tonic oxygen of these 
hills, inbreathed in youth, still continued to invigorate. 

Though Pompey, as \\q. sec, still remains a pleasant place 
to Stan of, yet it has certainly been, as Webster said of his 
own Xew Hampshire, an excellent place to /yo/z'O???. Ac- 
cordingly, these Onondaga highlanders have swept down on 
the lowlands and invaded the valleys. When, not long 
since, the Census Marshal inquired at my door the names, 
ages and birthplaces of the inmates, he could hardly think 
us serious when he was told that the owner was born on 
Pompey Hill and his wife in Cherry Vallej/. 

Indeed, the}' seem to have interlinked themselves with 
distant parts of the world, for, when the late Jas. T. Brady 
was in Pome, he desired his brother. Judge John R. Brady, 
of Xew York, to tell me that he had paid his respects to my 
cousins, the Pontine Marshes. Xow that was a brancli of the 
family quite intimate, in his da}-, with our sponsor, Pompey 
Magnii?, who used to visit them and traverse their estates, 
whenever, as he often did, he led his legions along the Ap- 
pian Way. 

And now, to-da}', tor the first time since their dispersion, 
does a common impulse move her children to return — and 
they come bearing their sheaves with them. The thousands 
under this tented roof, and the thousands for whom there is 
not room, attest the interest felt in this family festival. 

We cannot permanently return to the home we left so 
early. We ma}' not deck with our cots her upswelling 
dome, nor liang them on her slopes, nor join our liands in 



THE POMPEY PtE-UNION. 49 

friendly corJou around her base. Onr lines are cast, some 
by the eastern, some by the western sea, while others dot 
the intervening- space; and there we dwell, enriched onh' 
by boyhood's possession of these high citadels. But one 
there is — our good President, Daniel P. Wood — who is not 
willing that a day shall pass without regaling his eyes and 
refreshing his soul with glimpses of the sightly top; and 
who has so chosen his home, that, from the observatory in 
his own grounds at Syracuse, he may send at will his lov- 
ing glances through fourteen miles of sk}-, to the beloved 
towers of Pompey. 

We tread the ancient green, Avhere the athletes used to 
gather to jump, to run, to wrestle, to throw and catch the 
rapid ball and pitcli the heavy bar. The intervening years, 
and all the cares and din of active life, are, for the' moment, 
swept away, and we seem again to partake in 

"Those healthful sports that graced the peaceful scene, 
Lived in each look, and brightened all the green." 

Was there ever a daintier wrestler at arm's end — our fa- 
vorite game — than Palmer, a slender and cultured youth, 
whose fustian coat seemed made to Avithstand the grips of 
the strongest, but which, while it enclosed the lithe and 
graceful form, the strongest could never lay upon its back? 
When, with electric spring, he gave his toe-lock trip, how 
often have I seen the sturdiest champion, who had been al- 
lured from a distance by the fame of our Olympians, go 
down. 

Since Asahel — "as light of foot as a wild roe*' — overtook 
the Hebrew Captain, could man ever swallow the ground 
like Gridley? 

We revisit the strawberry Jrelds ! Has any one forgotten 
the Birdseye lot, by the old barn, flush with its lowly treas- 
ures, Avliere summer strewed the earth with fragrant rubies, 
too lavish to be hidden beneath the clover ? Whose taste 
gave realization to the fpiaint saying of an English writer, 
" Doubtless (xod might have made a better berry, but lie never 



oO THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

did.^' A little cousin came up from Onondaga to make a 
visit. lie crept into this crimson field through the fence he 
was too small to surmount, and when his capacities were sat- 
isfied, he sought in vain the fissure by the In'oken rail. A 
passer by, hearing his despairing sobs, inquired the cause. 
''I came,' the urchin cried, "to Pompey Hill to see my 
cousin, and can't find the hole out." More fortunate have 
we been in retracing our steps to the Avell remembered 
haunls. 

We stray among the orcJuird.s ! Even to this day, through 
the memories of more than forty years, can I pick you out, 
whether in the orcliards of Elihu Parsons, or Jasper Bennett, 
or Merrit Butler, or in the bordering Sedgwick nursery — 
which seemed a garden of the Hesperides — tlie very trees, 
if standing, which bore the golden prizes of the autumn; 
delicious globes, which Eve nor Adam could have resisted — 
which Atalante would have lost the race for — which would 
have comforted King Solomon, and their nectar stayed him 
with flagons — and which, whether by your leave or without 
your leave, it were hard to blame a boy for taking; apple- 
trees as worthy to play a part in the history of the world as 
the one which gave J^ewton the suggestion of an universal 
and planetary hiw — as the one under which the great rebel- 
lion was quenched at Appomattox. 

But, aUis ! the full tufted pear tree in my fatiier's garden, 
so long and widely known, has bowed its bowery head be- 
fore the vandal chopper — no longer a stimulus to rising with 
the lark, lest earlier boys should find the juicy bells shaken 
down from grafts by the night winds. Oh, Woodman, thou 
should'st have spared tliat tree on whose limbs many a Sun- 
day school lesson has been learned — honored for service ren- 
dered, for its fair fame, and for the menories clinging to 
every bough. This tree, the cradle of the robin and the 
nursery of song — and the Avindmill, beating the air with its 
mighty wings — and the liberty po^.e, from whose top the 
bunting caught the earliest gales, are missing features in 



THE POMPEY BE-UNIOX, 51 

Avhicli the present reality (lifters from the youtliful photo- 
graph. 

We walk again the halls of the old Academy, and listen 
for the arma virumque cano, or for the lisping echoes of Gre- 
cian verse. 

We turn in to the venerable mansions in which we were 
lirst launched on this ocean of human life — an ocean some- 
times lit up with roseate clouds, sometimes swept by relent- 
less storms, but ever its gulf stream bearing us on to a des- 
tination and a destiny which only heavenly revelation can 
interpret. 

Reverently wo press the verdure between the hollowed 
mounds and marble records on yonder ridge — a place of taste, 
suggestiveness and beauty — from whence extends an un- 
broken circle of lovely landscape, till the earth rounds it out 
of view. There, is the history of our town, caiven m stone. 
There, are its biographies, short and condensed, l)ut vera- 
cious and comprehensive, recording the two great events in 
each one's life — birth and death — the Alpha and Omega; no, 
not the Omega — but rightly viewed, the Alpha, rather, of 
another life. And there, on the very crown of the knoll, 
w^ith dewy ejes, and thronging memories, and holier re- 
solves, I trace the letters of a mother's name. 

We give a hearty hand shake to those we left here and 
who yet remain, some of whom are patriarchs indeed, whose 
vigor vouches the salubrity of this upland village ; and Ave 
interchange with each other the recollections of the past, 
the gratulations of the present, and the best wishes for the 
future. 

But list! I hear the Marshal's trump summoning us to a 
mc'.'e attractive feast in yonder wood. Let us go thither. 

\^The President.— W e will consent to adjourn to the grove 
for dinner, now awaiting us, on condition that Mr. Marsh 
will afterwards continue his remarks.] 

After dinner he was called on to resume. 



i 



52 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

If YOU will insist on making two bites of a cheriT, I am 
afraid your iYory ^Yill touch the cherry pit at hist. This 
breezy grove is not unfamiliar ground. Though in 3ore a 
frequent resort, it was never the "shade of mehmcholy 
boughs;" and to-day the hills break forth into singing, and 
all the trees of the grove clap their hands. Never, in the 
olden time, when Fays nestled under every leaf, and 
Dryads 

"and sylvan boys, were seen, 
''Peepin^i' from forth their alleys trreen," 

and Romance ruled the hour, have I known the holt so 
charmed with wood nymphs, nor these shadeful branches drop 
such manna on the tables. I knew, yesterday , that the 
coming hours were tilled with good assurances, for when, 
toward nightfall, while bordering fields on either hand 
waved their bearded heads with a growth unequalled even 
in the fat soil of the valleys, we breasted the uprise, wet 
with the tribute of the passing clouds, as our native village 
burst on the sight, lo ! God's seven prismatic colors came 
and blent and bent in beauty their glorious span, against 
the dark ground of the retreating storm, pointing, with rain- 
bow promise, to the heart of the hamlet. 

When I came up the hill I brought another Hill with me — 
one J. H. Hill, from Lenox. He was a Delphinian and 
Pompey born. We knew him in boj^hood as Hull Hdl, and 
he has acted, ever since he came, as if he owned the ichole 
hill. I speak with some severity, for, with insufferable au- 
dacity, he has doubted my veracily. I A^'ould have him 
know that the word of a Pompey boy is steadfast, and that 
though his foot maybe on his native heath, his name is 
neither Micawber nor Munchausen. I beguiled his way 
with many a story of our good old town ; how the sun earlier 
rose and later set, than elsewhere ; how Boreas whistled and 
Euroclydon roared; how we jumped from barn roofs into 
the deep drifted snow; how many yards we leaped, how 
many miles we ran ; how, at dawn, we used to brush the 
morning gems from the meadow grasses in quest of the er- 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 53 

rant kiue; how we learned to skate by the roadside and to 
swim in the goose pond; how long leagues of wild pigeons, 
Aveek after week, in their annual migration, winnowed the 
air with million wings ; how the brook at Pratt's Falls, after 
pouring its energies through crank and cog, in grinding the 
neighbors' grain, shoots the perpendicular abyss of a hun- 
dred and sixty feet — down which, one day, a woman fell, 
but escaped unhurt ; with many another truthful recollec- 
tion — all which, as he should, he greedily devoured, till 1 
came to a story of the steeple, at which his unfaith arose, 
and he declared it threw discredit on all the rest. Now, 
there are many here who know that when our church steeple 
was completed. Smith the builder, ascended to the very top 
of the spire, and, twining his limbs in the tines of the fork, 
hung with his head downwards, suspended only by his legs; 
at which Dominie Chadwick strode out in front of the church, 
and cried loudly to the reckless architect, " In the name of 
Jehovah, God Almighty, I command you to come down."' 
Now, though I have brought some twenty of our best citizens 
to verify this incident, and though it is attested in the Gov- 
ernor's address, yet Hull Hill still doubts. He is a Judge, 
somewhere down in Massachusetts. I Avonder what rules 
of evidence he has established for his Court ? a tribunal 
where parties should always demand a jury on questions of 
fact, and never trust to the stubborn incredulit}' of the Judge. 
I felt this imputation the more keenly, as I left this burgh 
with a fair record ; for, about that time, Nathaniel Baker — 
whose son is owner of this grove — desired me to bring a bag 
to his house; which done, he filled it to the mouth, as full 
as Benjamin's sack, with butternuts, saying, " There, Raw- 
son, I give those to you, for you " are the only boy in town 
who hasn't secretly visited my nut grove." No doubt Hull 
Hill was there — every dark night. 

[Mr. Hill : — I am converted.] 

Some honor have these sons of Pompey rendered to their 
native town. But they are present, and I may not recount 
it. I may only say that one of them, Horatio Seymour, 



54 THE POMPEY RE-UNIOX. 

rising to many a station of trust, has filled the highest office 
in our State. I see him — plainly as at this moment — as he 
stood by the pillar, glibly scanning his dactyls and spondees, 
the first day I entered the Academy. We began our ad- 
miralty studies together; he, as a shipwright, Avhittling buoy- 
ant vessels out of corn stalks ; while I, the mariner, for want 
of other water than the clouds dropped on us — a habit they 
have notforgotten, you perceive — fearless of reefs or cj'clones, 
navigated the stately flotillas — in the rain trough. And af- 
terwards, under the tuition of Capt. Alden Partridge, at 
Middletown, we pursued our military education together,, 
which fitted him, as Governor, to be the ex-officio Command- 
er-in-Chief of the forces of the State ; and me, to marshal- 
pleadings. I take some credit for this production of I*om- 
pey. for, but the nuptials at which mi/ grandfather ofliciated,, 
you would have had no Governor talking to you to-day. 

Another, Charles Mason, who, at West Point, from the 
beginning of his course standing at the head of each succes- 
sive class, took, at last, the highest of the graduating honors, 
though many of his competitors — among them the late leader 
of the late Confederate armies — have since won distinction 
for superior abilities. He has since administered the Patent 
Office, and given law from the Supreme Bench of Iowa. 

Another, Henry W. Slocum, also a West Point graduate,, 
as a Major-General in our army, consecrated his sword and 
rare abilities to the service of his country, in her recent con- 
test for lite. 

And still another, George H. Williams, a representative 
in the National Senate from distant Oregon — fresh from his 
labors in the accomplishment of the great international 
treaty — the inauguration of a new mode of determining dis- 
putes between nations; a new departure in the settlement of 
belligerent claims; a victory of civilization, in which arbi- 
trament takes the place of war ; where arguments are not 
pointed by bayonets, nor rounded reasons rendered from 
columbiads ; where Peace no longer stands with ensanguined 



THE POMPEY RE-UNIOX. 5o 

feet, lifting her misty head above the smoke of battle; a 
sacred stadium in tlie journey of our race a millenium herald 
in the East. 

You come, also, from professional chairs, from Congres- 
sional seats, from high judicial stations, from sculptor's stu- 
dios and places of influence, and some stand in rank with the 
kings of finance. While others of us assendile Irom less 
conspicuous, though not less laborious posts of duty in the 
world. 

But a celebratiou of hermits, unsunned by the smiles of 
Pompey's daughters, would have bereft our programme of 
its cheer. They also come with an ecpial enthusiasm. The 
voice of one of them,. Mrs. Miller, has just wafted its musi- 
cal reminiscenses to our ears. Yon Laurel, it is true, shad- 
ows a vacant cliair, around the brow of whose destined oc- 
cupant Grace Greenwood, its bays might fittingly be bound, 
and who speaks to us to-day only in her song; but then, in 
consolation for her absence, our Greenwood is full of Graces, 
at sight of whom we sigh to l»c foresters, and to spend our 
days in the witching shade. 

Some there were, starting life with us, or not long betbre, 
who are not here ; or, if here, not visble through the vale. 
Among them, Charles Baldwin, the genius of our town — not 
permitted to acquire the future honors to which his gifts 
seemed so justly to entitle him. Judge Hiram K. Jerome, 
from Palmyra — of Pompey growth — has just told me that 
it was his fortune to room with Baldwin in yonder office of 
Daniel Gott, and that neither Joshua A. Spencer, nor Henry 
R. Storrs, nor Elisha Williams more deeply impressed him 
as a speaker. In a Masonic address, he came to speak of the 
origin of that ancient fraternity. Some, he said, placed it 
at the time of Josephus, others even earlier ; but for himself, 
if called on to state the period, he should say it was at the 
time when the Almighty said, "Let there be light and there 
was light." 

And Seahred Dodge, the giant of our town — physical and 



56 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

intellectual — whom I have seen toss a barrel as a playthuig, 
its hoops and staves tumbling together in their fall, and of 
whom I remember to have heard Joshua Leonard say — no 
small praise to those who knew the men — " his attainments 
in mathematics are superior to those of Dr. Aiken, Priest 
Barrows and myself, all combined." 

I said this was the iirst time the children of Pompey had 
gathered, from their scattered homes, to the bosom of the 
mother. It probably is the last. Other and younger gen- 
erations may come. This, it is likely, never again. So 
there is joy for our re-union, and there is sadness for our 
parting. And many a day shall go by, and many a year 
close on its bleak December wing; but the radiant hours 
which have inlaid this social re-union shall glow and purple 
Avith thoughts of the princely hospitalities which have Avel- 
comed home the Pompey legion — true to the memories of 
their ancestral hearth-stone. And oh, how much richer arc 
we for the fond meeting of heart with heart ; and back to 
our busy haunts we take fresh inspiration from this beacon 
hill-top, that ever looks up to the heaven's broad face, lit by 
God's constellation of watchful stars. And now, having 
climbed the upland together, and together mingled uur joys, 
and hopes, and recollections, and pledged anew our fealty 
to the dear old eminence, we will descend, as pilgrims from 
a sacred shrine, with tlie maternal blessing on our heads, and 
giving back, as with one voice, the filial benediction, "May 
the summits of Pompey, as they catch the earliest and latest 
gleam of the sun, so also receive, and ever retain, the favor 
of our Lord." 

At the point in Mr. Marsh's remarks, where he refers to 
the Marshal, there was a postponement of the speaking, and 
the vast concourse repaired to the grove where refreshments 
awaited them. The last part of his remarks were made af- 
ter dinner at the grove. The place chosen lor the pic-ric, 
was in a large grove owned by Deacon Samuel Baker, situ, 
ated a short distance north-west of the village. The road 
leading to it was through an arched gateway, handsomel}^ 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 57 

decorated with evergreens, with the figures 1793, the date 
of the organization of the town of Pompej, and 1871, the 
date of the re-union. The'grounds were thicldy shaded, 
and in every way adapted to the purpose. The scene pre- 
sented was , alike pleasing to the sense of sight and taste. 
Three lon^ tables running north and south, and with ais les 
between them, Avere set apart for the accommodation of 
visitors and guests. They were laden with substantials and 
delicacies, includinii' strawberries and ice cream in great 
profusion. They were spread with white linen, and deco- 
rated wit]^ boquets and evergreens. They were the model 
of neatrfOss and good order, and attracted universal atten- 
tion. To the west of them Reuben Wood, of Syracuse, the 
well known caterer, was superintending the preparation of 
immense quantities of coffee. To the east was a long row 
of '' family tables," set at right angles with those just men- 
tioned, where fiimily re-unions took place. Among them 
were those of lion. W. G. Fargo, the Birdseys, Mr. Sloan, 
Orrin Bishop, John Soule, Messrs. ISTorthrup, O. J. and 
Daniel G. Wbeaton, Eli Pratt, Joseph Wallis, Morris Bush, 
John r. Kobmson, Julius .and "VV. E. Mason, Edmund 0. 
Clapp, Messrs. Beards, of Fayetteville and Pompey. Frank 
Jerome and Chas. Cook liad a table with an evergreen arch 
in the centre, bearing the word " greeting," handsomely 
wrought, and underneath the s\-mbolic device of crossed 
hands. Tlie Pompey Center and Manlius and Fayetteville 
tables were neatly and tastefully arranged, and attracted 
general attention. On the south the Sweet and Garrett 
families had a fine table and capacious tent ; and the family 
and friends of John Q. Sn)ith of Syracuse, occupied another 
tent tt) the west, where one of the finest collations on the 
grounds was spread. Miner B. and Fred. Murry also had 
an elegant table to tlie north-east, and bountifully spread. 
Evergreen arches were also made over the principal tables. 
Means for i)reparing coftee were provided at various points 
and common use was made ot them. Large wooden tanks 
of lemonade, as cold as a January day on Pompey Hill, oc- 



58 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

cupied a prominent position, and also a tank of ice water. 
Long before the procession reached the grove, hundreds^ 
aye, thousands of people liad congregated and were enjoying 
themselves in a most rational manner, and from man}- gath- 
erings song and music echoed through the wood. At about 
2 o'clock the sound of music in the distance was heard, and 
the words " they are coming," brought all to the margin of 
the route, 

Tlie young people who were to wait upon the tables 
dressed in uniform, with badges and flowers, arranged them- 
selves on either side of the route of the procession, and all 
was in readiness for the reception. The procession entered 
the grove, headed by the Marshal and his assistants, mount 
ed, and Dresher's full band, and in good order the guests 
took seats at the tables. The Rev. Mr. Brace oliered thanks 
to the Throne of Grace. The waiting committee flled in in 
good order, and the work of destruction commenced. The 
attack was long and perseveringly continued, but the com- 
mittee was too well armed to be defeated, and wdien the ta- 
bles were cleared two hours later, the fragments gathered up 
were sufficient to have maintained a small army during a 
short seige. There Avas an abundance of everything, and 
right heartily were the bounties partaken of by the entire 
assemblage. Before Mr. Marsh concluded his address after 
dinner was served, the Durston quartette favored the as- 
semblage with another of their choice selections, singing, 
" Oh, howl love m}' mountain home," and were followed 
by music by the band. 

At the conclusion of ^Mr. Marsh's address, the President 
read the following toast and sentiment. 

The Old Toivn of Pompeij — Glorious in her past memories, 
proud of her fertile soil, magnificent scenery and noble sons 
and daughters. To these she points with pride, and says in 
the language ofthe Roman matron, " These are my jewels," 
and called upon William Barnes, Esq., of Albany, to respond. 



THE POMPEY RE UNION. 59 

RESPONSE OF MR. BARNES. 
3Ir. Chairman: 

For unknown cycles of years, before any white man set- 
tled in the county of (3nondaga, there lived and ruled over 
these pleasant hills and lovely valleys, those celebrated 
tribes of Indians known as the Confederate, or United Five 
Nations. These Romans of the JSTew A¥orld had subjected 
to their sway most of the other tribes from the Hudson to 
the Mississippi rivers, and from the Carolina's to the Great 
Lakes. The hills of Onondaga formed the grand Council 
Chamber, where their dusky Setiators corivened and coun- 
selled, and where the painted Chiefs and Warriors planned 
their far-reaching campaigns. This soil was classic in the 
annals of tradition,, reaching back to an era of which the 
memory of man knows not the beginning. The advance of 
the white man, from the time of King Phillip's war in the 
east to the present Indian warfare raging on the outskirts 
of our civilization in the west, has been but an ever repeat- 
ed history of the yielding of the native red man to the 
Anglo-Saxon race. 

This is not the time or the occasion for Aboriginal enqui- 
ry or discussion — but at this glorious re-union at the house- 
hold shrines of our fathers, we cannot fail to remember the 
sadly eloquent sentiment which runs, like a minor chord, 
through all the speeches of their orators, and seems to have 
nerved the Savage arm in almost every Indian conflict that 
has occurred on this continent — "You ask us to leave the 
homes of our ancestors ; you are attempting to drive us from 
the graves of our Fathers !" 

To this sentiment, certainly every human heart assembled 
liere to-day can thrill. We all feel that we are treading to- 
day a soil consecrated to us, also, as the chosen home of our 
fathers, and which contains within its bosom all that of them 
is earthly. I am proud to say that in your quiet church- 
yard at the base of Pompey Hill, I have a grandfather and 
grandmother quietly reposing. My grandfather, Deacon 
William Barnes, emigrated from Great BarringtoUj Mass., 



60 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

to Otsego County, IST. Y., and from thence in 1798, to a 
farm about one mile south of the vilhige of Oran. In the 
immediate neighboriiood three of his brothers, Phineas, 
Roswell and Asa Barnes, had previous!}^ settled. My grand- 
father was a farmer, and had upon his farm a small black- 
smith shop, as it was not unusual in those days for the far- 
mer to understand and practice, occasionally, some mechan- 
ical trade. Animated by that stern monitor necessity, as 
Avell as by the promptings of his Puritan blood, he painted 
in conspicuous letters, first above his forge, the motto which 
Avas the guide of his life, "Work or Die," and alternating 
between the two pursuits of blacksmith and farmer, laying 
down the ponderous hammer only to assume the equally 
severe labor of felling primeval trees lour or five feet in 
diameter, and guiding his oxen through virgin acres, where 
the stumps impeded every onward step — his life stands as 
the representative of the lives of nearly all those early set- 
tlers in Pompey, whose memory we revere to-day. 

These early settlers were mostly God-fearing ITew Eng- 
landers of Puritan origin, and fervently inspired with relig- 
ious zeal, and enthsiasm. In my grandfather's house, no 
secular book or newspaper could be read upon the Sabbath 
day, the sacrcdness of which was kept with punctillious 
rigidity. An amusing incident has been recently related to 
me by one of the parties, still living, and now in his eighty- 
sixth year, (Mr. Luther Buell of this town.) In the early 
part of the present century he was working for my grand- 
father, and one Sunday afternoon, being sent to drive up 
the cows from the woods to be milked, a young deer was 
found with the herd, and by quiet and shrewec] management 
was driven up also to the barn yard with the domestic cattle. 
Young Buell, much elated at the prospect of a fine haunch 
-of venison, hastened into the house to notify my grandfather 
of his prize, but alas! for the impatient Nimrod — the sun 
had not yet set in the west, and the sacred day could not be 
profaned by secular pursuits — venison or no venison, no gun 
could be discharged on those premises, and the young man 



THE POMPEY RE-UNIOX. 61 

was compelled to watch and stealthil}^ guard his game until 
the sun had fairly sunk below the horizon, and the Xew 
England Sabbath had terminated. Then the deer was duly 
shot, and my grandfather's conscience preserved inviolate. 

Our present generation have little conception of the her- 
culean task lying in the pathway of the early pioneers of 
Central Xew York. It was no small undertaking to travel 
through dense forests in search of the military lot which the 
settler had purchased from the soldier of the Revolution, by 
whom it had been drawn as a reward for military services 
during the war. Once upon his lot, (perhaps a dozen or 
more miles from a Doctor, a neighbor or grist-mill,) he was 
confronted not alone by wild beasts and Indians, but by the 
no less stern realities of a primeval forest out of which he 
must by his strong arm alone, create and build up a Christian 
home. What was to be done ? Wife and children were 
there, needing food and shelter; sometimes in addition, a 
mortgage upon the lot with a no less ravenous appetite for 
interest on each recurring anniversary of the purchase. We 
read of heroism on the field of battle, where frantic men rush 
on to death, nerved by the maddening stimulus of martial 
]nusic and the cannons roar, but here in the solitary wilder- 
ness was no flag flaunting in the breeze, no flying artillery, 
no support from other thousands of sympathetic hearts throb- 
bing in unison, no pensions, no honors, no promotions, no 
glory, no immortality. No: none of these — here were only 
the wife and children, born and yet to be born, two strong 
stalwart arms, and a loving, honest and manly heart, intent 
only on serving God and performing its duty here on earth. 

The sturdy faith which led these men into the wilderness, 
did not desert them when they faced its dangers, and the 
settlers axe soon resounded through its majestic solitudes. 
One by one the stalwart monarchs of the forest were laid 
low^, until the sunlight crept coyly into the modest "clearing," 
and laughed with the wife and children, as the open space 
was consecrated to the Lares and Penates of the Christian 
home. Those days were not without their sunshine. Did 



■62 THE rOMPEY HE-UNION. 

vou ever hear of the tender friendships and hearty hand-i^rips 
of those early pioneers ? If not, watch closely when you see 
anv of the survivors casually meet. The whole combined 
energv of " Fifth Avenue," could not concentrate as mucli 
soul and electricity as was generated in one " barn-raising," 
or town-nieetino;. And then the midnight fires when the 
loii'dieaps were lighted in the dry season of June ; no costly 
illuminations in the JST, Y. Parks, in Paris, or in London, 
could equal the quiet joy of the farmer at the ever-changing 
pyrotechnics of the " fallow" and " log-heap." And then 
for the cliildren ; could Delmonico with all his art furnish a 
ilish equal to fresh warm maple sugar to be eaten on the 
pure and unsullied snow of the vernal equinox ? 

And after churches were erected, what holy joy welcomed 
the quiet Sabbath, the day of peace and rest, and how soul- 
satisfying^the sermons of those pioneer clergyman, teaching 
their earnest hearers to look "from IS'ature up to Nature's 
Uod." 

The church was often a Log-House or Barn, but it mat- 
tered little to the true Christians there assembled. The 
fervent prayers and aspirations that arose to Heaven from 
those humble walls, let us'devoutly believe were as accept- 
able to God as the anthems of "Westminster, or the form- 
alisms of Ecumenical Councils, convened in the broad aisles 
of St. Peters, at Rome. 

In this stern conflict year after year, with poverty and 
want, many noble men and martyred women died a pre- 
mature death, oveiborne by their excessive burthens. The 
mass, however, came out victorious, the mortgages were 
gradually satisfied, comforts and conveniences were added 
to the household, from year to year, while numerous stalwart 
sons and handsome daughters joined hands with them in 
the crusade of labor, until the earth began generously to 
reward the faithful husbandman, and the wiklerness blos- 
somed as the rose. 

I have been asked to-day to respond to a sentiment hon- 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 63 

oring t-.he memory of these men — how can I speak of them, 
without haying also my trihute of grateful reverence upon 
the graves of the honored mothers and grand-mothers of 
these early days, who with scanty means literally created 
the food and clothing for their families, and trained and 
taught us, their children, with all the iidelity and devotion 
of guardian angels. Many of them had disciplined intellects 
which were stimulated and fed only at the fount of classic 
English literature, and in the intervals of their daily toil, 
they were often able to talk with you more critically, and 
quote more freely from the Spectator, from Pope, Addison 
and the earlier poets than would be possible for many of the 
so-called literary women of to-day, while the}- gave to Hu- 
manity and to the State, not merely one or two feeble and 
dyspeptic otfsprings, but well-endowed, fully perfected chil- 
dren, (sometimes numbering more than a dozen,) and all 
nursed at their own bosoms, and trained to manhood and 
womanhood, in the fear and admonition of the Lord. 

My revered Father, Orson Barnes, (with whose name 
many of you are familiar, although he has been dead for 
twenty years,) having removed from this neighborhood du- 
ring my childhood, I had few opportunities to become ac- 
quainted with your older citizens. As a law-student, I well 
recollect the Websterian brow of Daniel Gott, and the able, 
honest and cheerful face of Victory Birdseye. They be- 
longed to that honored class of lawyers, not yet I trust, en- 
tirely extinct, who performed their professional duties with 
all the honesty, zeal and conscientiousness of ministers of 
the gospel. I well recollect when studying law in Baldwins- 
ville, with the late lamented Judge Geo. A. Stansbury, 
walking twelve miles, day after day, to the Court House, at 
Salina, to hear such lawyers as jS'oxon, Lawrence, Hillis, 
Gott and Birdseye, and feeling amply repaid for the phy- 
sical fatigue. 

Among the many men of mark, who have been born in 
the town of Pompey, and who I see around me to day, I 
miss one face that should have lent its geniality and charm 



64 THE POMPEY RE-UNIOX. 

to this gathering. I refer to the celebrated artist and great- 
est of American sculptors, E. D. Palmer, of All)any, N. Y. 
Born upon these hills, almost within sight of our festivities, 
and early inured to toil, his hardy frame gathered and con- 
solidated year by year the strength and vigor which at man- 
hood vitalized and invigorated his genius, and enabled him 
without the training of the European schools or having even 
seen the classic models of the old ',vorld, to wrest from his 
trans- Atlantic rivals u, fame that grows brighter and brighter, 
with each succeeding eftbrt of his genius. Ponipey has pro- 
duced great orators, lawyers, statesmen and iinanciers, but 
T recall no other of her sons who has achieved a wider repu- 
tation, or who wears his honors more worthily, than Erastus 
D. Palmer. A representative American in every pulse and 
fibre of his being, the town ofPompey honors herself when 
slie honors liim. 

Mr. Chirman — I have already occupied too much of your 
time, and the lengthening shadows admonish me that the 
afternoon is rapidly passing away, but I cannot leave you 
without referring to one historical fact connected with the 
settlement of the military tract in Central New York. The 
twenty-six towns composing this tract, were with the ex- 
ception of four, named from ancient Romans and Grecian 
Generals, Orators and Statesmen. Our own township, N"o. 
10, comprising 60,003 acres, received the name of Pompey, 
from Pompey Magnus, the son of Strabo, who was born in 
the year of Eome, 647. He was as you all know, a lirave, 
successful General, and was honored with three Roman 
triumphs for his victories over Africa, Europe and Asia, and 
was esteemed the conqueror of the world. Having been 
elected consul and invested by the Roman Senate, with ex- 
traordinary powers, he ruled the Empire with almost su- 
preme authority, and w^as considered as the rival of Alexan- 
der the Great. One incident in his life occurs to me, which 
I desire to relate, not merely to " adorn a tale," but to 
" point a moral,"' which it may be well for us in these latter 
<lavs to heed. Rome, the haughty mistress of the world, 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 65 

was soiFcring from famine, aiul cries for l)reail arose in lier 
streets. B3" a Senatus Considiiun, Pompoy liad been entrust- 
ed with the important duty of providing- and importing corn 
and other provisions. lie sailed witli his fleet to tlie coast 
of Africa, and having obtained vast su})p]ies, was preparing 
to_retnrn, when a fearful storm arose, tlireatening the de- 
struction of the whole expedition. His mariners refused to 
re-embark, and were on the point of mutiny, when Pompey 
seized the lielm of his vessel and ordered tliem to weigh 
anchor, with these decisive words, " It i-^ ucccssar)/ that irc 
should f/o, it is not necessary that loe shouhl live.'" It was this 
spirit which animated the early pioneers of the town which 
bears his name. Fidelity to duty first of all, and after that. 
considerations of personal safety and ease : this was incul- 
cated in their daily teachings, and in every action of tlieir 
lives, and on this festal day, as we meet to commemorate 
tlieir virtues and emulate their example, let us consecrate 
ourselves to the same high ideal, and make ourselves wor- 
thy inheritors of their heroic blood, always rememberins: 
tl)at 

'• 111 faros the land to liastoning ills a prey 
Whore irealfJi aeeumulatos and )i)cn decay I " 

At the conclusion of Mr. Barnes' speech the President 
said : 

The fair daughters of Pompey — we never forget them — 
AV^e cannot marry them all, (laughter,) if w^e would — Tliey 
would not let us if we could. (Laughter). But Pompey has 
long been the hunting ground for wives by outside barba- 
rians. (Laughter). I propose to give a toast appropriate to 
tliatclassof men,and shall call upon a distinguished individ- 
ual from yonder city to respond. He has become a son-in-law 
of Pompey, by uniting in marriage with one of the Daugh- 
ters of the late Doctor Ilrial Wright, so well and so favora- 
bly known to all the residents of Pompey, and who for a 
number of years held the oiRce of " Superintendent of the 
Onondaga Salt Springs,'" and discharged its duties with 
marked ability. The widow of Doctor AVright — four daugh- 

5 



(3G ^ THE POMl'EY llE-UXION. 

tors, two sous, two grandsons, and two sons-in law, are pres- 
ent with us on this occasion. I offer the following toast : 
''Old Pompey's sons-in-law, their good j udgment in the selec- 
tion of their wives prove them worthy of the true and noble 
women who have captured them." — (Applause.) I call upon 
IIou. James Xoxon, of Syracuse, to respond. 

MR. NOXONS RESPONSE. 

J//". Chairman i\ml Fellow Citizens : — 

It is a pleasure to be called upon to respond to the senti- 
ment given by your chairman, relative to the fair daughters 
of Pompey and the men who have been captured by them. 
The introductory remarks of the President upon the reading 
of the toast, inspires me Avith more than ordinary feeling at 
the present time, to reply in a manner worthy of the sons- 
in-law of Pompey. The sons of Pompey have spoken well 
for her in her younger days. They have justly and proudly 
referred to the men and women wlio laid the foundations of 
this good old town, which has sent forth so luany good and 
worthy daughters and sons. Our acquaintance with the 
history of the State and the men who have taken part in the 
transactions relative to its policy and government, leads us 
to point with pride to the men Avho have gone forth froni 
these hills and inscribed their names high upon the roll of 
honor in every department of life. The reputation and 
character of the men Avho have gone forth from Pompey, 
extends far beyond the limits of tlie county of Onondaga, 
and who does not well re-member in casting his eye over 
the State, that no individual locality has produced bettei' or 
greater men than she. It well behoves the young men, not 
only here in this locality but everywhere in the State, to 
look about them and around them, and see Avhere they had 
better be born — (laughter) — I wish my voice could reach the 
ears of the young men of the valley below us, not alone 
those wlio have been accustomed from youth to ga/.e ad- 
miringl}^ upon these mountain tops, but those living far- 
distant and beyond, the bounds of our county. I A\oa!d 



THE POMPEY RE-UNIOX, 67 

peiiit thciTi to the fertile hills, ajid ask them to look -well to 
it, that their sails were well trimmed, and if they loved hig-h 
[daces, and to be honored and distinguished among men to 
come here, and if thev could be born again, be born in the 
good old town of Pompey, (applause and laughter). It pro- 
duced great men, and the record of this day will long be re- 
membered as a day of treasuring up and recounting her 
jewels. Wh}' was it that the town of Pompey and the other 
hills of the county of Onondaga, whose tops were awaj^ up 
among the clouds, were so early settled by the hardy men 
who emigrated from New England ? It was because here 
was a fertile soil, beautiful mountain streams, fine breezes, a 
county unafi:ected by the low and marshy region of the val- 
leys, and hence the early settlements were made here, and 
the pioneers from other counties, and other States pitched 
their tents on these proud eminences, where the physical 
and mental condition of men best flourished, and where great 
men must and will be born. I beg you will note that it was 
not altogether my fault that I was born on yonder Hill, in 
the town of Onondaga, instead of this more elevated one in 
Pompey. Onondaga has proud old hills, and she too, has a 
noble record of good and great men who have gone forth 
from her majestic hills and been leaders in the van of civili- 
zation. It may not be amiss to state that those hills, like 
the hills of Pompey, have been subject to the depredations 
of the venturesome young men of the valleys, who have 
committed trespasses upon the estates of the good farmer, 
and been captured and made Sons in-Law by their fair 
daughters. (Laughter and applause). 

Kow, my triends, be it known to you; one and all, that at 
an early day I made the discovery that I was laboring under 
a most difficult and embarassing perplexity, which it Avas 
hard to overcome, while in dreams I yearned and desired to 
be born here, my lot had been cast elsewhere, and I could 
not if I would be born on both these glorious Hills. This 
difficulty I managed to overcome as best I could, next to 
being a son I reckoned a son-in-law would be pre-eminent, 



68 TJIE I'OMPEY RE-UNION. 

SO I ventured to try these hunting grounds, and extended 
my heart and hand to ons of the daughters of this venerable 
town; and we together walked down into yonder valle}', 
wiiere our lot is cast in full view of these niagniiicent hills. 
(Applause). Young men of the valleys who hear me this 
day, whether you live far or near, I say try on, you may 
grieve and mourn over the misfortunes of your lives, that 
you were not born here. It is not probable your tears and 
griefs will alter the Providences which has cast your lot else- 
where, but the way is open, your tears and grief can be 
turned to smiles and joy, when I teach you by a joyous ex- 
perience that the best work of your lives is to be captured 
by one of the fair daughters of Pompey, as you surely will, 
if you venture upon these hill tops, and then your baptism 
Avill be complete, and although not a son, the law will recog- 
nize you as such, and you will be a son-in-lair. (Great laughter 
and applause). I have no doubt our President, who for so 
many years roamed over these hills, knew well when he 
framed the beautiful sentiment to which he has called me 
to respond, that I had never had cause to regret that my 
fortune had been united with one of Pompey's daughters, 
and that the soti-iu-law and daughter rejoiced alike in this 
re-union of kindred spirits on this delightful occasion. Al- 
low me to say to the daughters here present, you need have 
no fear of the young men from these valleys. If they have 
the heart and the bravery to climb these hills, and face the 
storm king upon the top of your mountain heights, they are 
worthy of your kindest solicitudes, and should be warmly 
received. If laudable ambition rivits them here to be en- 
grafted into this great family of joyous and loving spirits. I 
entreat you to receive them kindly, and if needs l)e, and 
heaven approves, walk hand-in-hand down into the valle^^ 
together; and when the centennial year of the foundation 
of the town of Pompey shall roll around in 1894, let them, 
and you, and your children, and all the rest of us who shall 
live to that day, come around another festive board, and 
rejoice in the pleasures of another re-union of the sons and 
daughters of Pompey. 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 69 

Mr. President — sometimes tlie question of our birtli is in- 
vested with peculiar interest. I remember not long since of 
hearing of a speech made by one of our citizens, (a friend of 
mine), who had occasion to allude to his parentage, and the 
stock from which he came. He said that on his mother's 
side he came from Plymouth Rock — that on his father's 
side he came from Blarney Castle, and he gloried as well he 
might that this union produced sons and daughters worthy 
of memorable sires. (Laughter) This speech was called out 
in a political contest of great excitement. I shall not refer 
to the questions at issue, we came here to lay aside and l)ury 
politics, this day we flock around this common altar, and 
know nothing beyound the words, loveliness and women — 
and on that altar we swear allegiance. Not long after this 
•speech I was called iipon to address a public meeting, in 
which seemed to me if there wr.s any thing to be proud of 
in stock and ancestral glory, I was entitled to a small share, 
and said to my hearers that on my father's side, I boasted 
•of Scotch desc ent, and that my forefathers came to this 
country from the romantic hills of Scotland, al>out 250 years 
ago. That on my mother's side, was German, and rejoiced 
in the good old Dutch appellation of Van attached to the 
name of my mother and her ancestry. My audience was 
pretty well attended by Irish citizens, and I added playfully, 
that I came very near being born an Irishman — one of my 
auditors who was a native of the green Isle, demanded of 
me in his own peculiar brogue, "How is that?" To. which I 
replied, I was born on St. Patrick's day. (Laughter). My 
friends, the thought now strikes me how much glory it would 
have been to me, if I could on this occasion claim I had 
running in my veins the Scotch, German and Irish blood, 
and then on top of all, been born on these hills of old Pom- 
pey. (Laughter and applause). 

You, Mr. Chairman, knew well Avhen you called me to 
this platform, that nothing could intimidate me from telling 
the most solemn truth, relating to the sons and daughters. 
(Laughter). I invoke the women of Pompey who have got 



70 THE I'OMPEY RE-UNION. 

husbands in the valley's to stand by me and fortify evciy 
word spoken as being true as gospel. (Laughter). Sir, I 
speak from sweet experience on the subject of this toast. 
My wife is here present and if she was in the habit of speech 
making, she, too, might speak of her experience. She has 
graciously permitted me to speak for both of us, and we 
here rejoice together with you on the success of the sons 
and daughters, and sons-in-law, and daughters-in-law of 
Pompey. 

We mourn over the fate of one poor Pompey boy who 
came to this re-union after many years of absence, and who 
ventured to kiss one of the fair daughters of Pompey, l)ut 
his pleasure was nipped in the bud by being unceremon- 
iously introduced to her husband, anil then made a second 
effort to kiss the daughter of her whom he had first attempted 
to kiss, when again he was introduced to the husband of 
the daughter. Our friend had evidently kept no note of 
time, and exclaimed much to our merriment that he would 
shortly go home and kiss the mother and daughter he had 
left behind him, both of whom were Pompey-ites of blessed 
memory. (Laughter). Fellow citizens of Pompey, may 
God bless your town, may God bless your men and 
women, and may God bless the girls of the town of Pom- 
pey. (Applause). 

At the conclusion of Mr. jS'oxon's speech. President 
Wood, in proposing the next sentiment, said : — A speech 
was made a few days ago in the British House of Lords, bv 
that distinguished man. Earl De Grey, which has been trans- 
mitted to us by telegraph, under the Atlantic Ocean, a sen- 
timent in which is very appropriate to be used on this oc- 
casion, and a fit one to call out one of the noble sons of 
Pompey. It is this : — " The American Members of the 
Joint High Commission ; they w^ere men of business, knew 
what they wanted, and asked for it," — and (added the chair- 
man) got it I call upon the Hon. George H. Williams to 
respond. 



THE I'OMPEY IIE-UNIOX. 71 

MR. WILLIAMS' KESPONSE. 

Mr. Clicdrman Ladies and Gentkmcu : — 

I have exhau.sted tlie time to whioli I am entitled on tins 
occasion already ;, and I have heard others refer to many 
incidents in the history of this town Avith great pleasure. 
All professions and all trades, and all sections of the country 
are represented here to-day. They all ought to have an 
opportunity to speak to you, and you ought to have an op- 
portunity to hear them. It is not right that any one person 
should monopolize the time. I shall, therefore, do little 
more than to express my acknowledgements for the com- 
pliment which was implied in the sentiment proposed Ity 
the chairman. 

• To adjust undcrstandingly the complicated question, aris- 
ing between two great, free and powerful nations, is, of 
course, a business attended with no little difficulty. Fortu- 
nately tor both countries, the British Commissioners came 
to the consideration of the questions involved in a spirit of 
candor and fairness; and the American Commissioners en- 
deavored to meet them upon the same ground. Xo doubt 
many of our countrymen feel as though enough was not 
conceded by the representatives of the British government. 
But a question appears very diflerent when both sides are 
thoroughly argued instead of only one. Proceeding to a 
consideration of the difficulties between the two countries, 
of course the arguments and the reasons b\- which the British 
government is influenced in her actions were presented to 
our minds in a most forcible and persuasive manner, and 
we endeavored to meet these arguments and these reasons 
by showing the claims of our country growing out of the 
conduct of Great Britain during the late rebellion. Our 
effort was to make a treaty consistent witli the interest, the 
dignity, and the honor of this nation, and conducive to the 
best interests of the whole world. (Applause.) We sup- 
posed that the question was simply one of skillful negotia- 
tion, as of a war between the two countries. Manifestly 



4:1 THE POMPEY llE-UNION. 

every expedient bad been exbausted for tbe purpose of ad- 
justing tbe questions between tbese two nations, and tbis 
Commission was tbe only peaceful mode tbat was left for 
tbeir settlement. Hadtbose Commissioners failed to agree, 
tben tbe two countries must necessarily, liave resorted to tbe 
?word for tlie settlement of tbese great questions.. Our true 
policy is peace. Our country at tbis time is not prepared 
for war. AYar would bave inflated our currency ; war 
would bave increased our taxes ; war would bave depreciated 
our public securities, to say notbing of tbe sufferings and sor- 
rows, tbe vices and crimes tbat follow in tbe footsteps of 
war. 

I am bappy, fellow citizens, tbat tbe services wliicb I 
rendered upon tbat Commission bave redounded to tbe 
advantage of tbis country and to tbe advantage of tbe 
w^orld. Tbat is compensation enougb for me. I tbink 
tbe muversal acceptance of tbis treaty in l)otb countries, 
witbout any considerable distinction on party grounds, is 
evidence tbat tbe Commissioners struck as near as possible 
tbe golden mean upon tbese (juestions. 

I tind, bowever, tbat I am, contrary to my determination, 
making a speecb. (Cries of " Go on.'") 1 am proud and 
liapp}', fellow-citizens, to meet you bere to-day. I am jtroud 
to Jiave been a resident of tbe town ofPom}»ey, and to have 
been a son of tbe great Empire State. Wbile 1 bad tbe 
honor to bold a seat in tbe Senate, tliere Avere nine mem- 
]>ers of tbat l)0(ly wbo were l)orn in tbe State of Kew York, 
and tbis is a State, on account of its size, its population, its 
Vv'caltb, and its power, entitled to sucb a representation in tbe 
Senate of tbe United States. 

I met bere persons from all parts of tbe country; some 
liave come from tbe nortb, some from tbe soutb, some from 
tbe east, some from tbe west to greet eacb otbcr; to revive 
tbe reminiscences of early days. I bave come from tbe bot 
atmospbere of Wasbington to look upon tbe green trees 
and tbe waning iields once more, and breatbe again tbe 



THE POJIPEY KE-UNION. 73 

pure fresh air of Pompey Hill. Ladies and g-entlemen, I 
can hardly express the feelings that I entertain upon this 
occasion. But I am rejoiced at this opportunity of meeting 
once more so many of my friends of Pompey, and I express 
the earnest hope that all honor, happiness and prosperity 
may attend them through the future days of their lives. (Ap- 
plause). 

The l*resident then read the following: — 

Vonrpeil Academt) — A light set upon a hill, which has 
spread its eflhlgence afar. 

And said-: "I call upon the Hon. Lelioy Morgan to rc- 
s[)ond, an honorable descendant of this old town, and now 
Judge of the Su[>reme Court, living in the cit}' of Syracuse :" 

JUDGE MORGAN'S PESPONSE. 

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen, and Fellov Toirnsnien — 

I wish it was in my power to make my voiceheard over 
this vast congregation. I think I would give you some of 
tlie history of the early struggles of the young men who 
graduated from Pompey Academy, some of whom have since 
become the most distinguished men in the State and nation. 
But my voice is entirely inadeiiuate to be heard for a dis- 
tance. I sliall therefore eonteut myself with saying a very 
fev,- things, it would have been gratifying to me to have 
held a class meeting somewhere in this vicinity, and to have 
li;;d each old resident of this town, who has become dis- 
tinguished and who now resides abroad, tell you his early ex- 
pci-ience, and to tell you how he contrived when a young man 
to win his way into public favor, and finally, to attain the 
highest positions known to our government. 

?^ow, our forefathers who emigrated to this town, mostly 
iVoiu the Eastern States, built wisely, wiser, perhaps, than 
they knew. One of the first things they did was to endow 
an institution for the education of their children. 

If you want to know wh}- it is that Pom[)ey has produced 
so many eminent men, go back to your fathers; ask them 



74 THE POMPEY RE-UNIOX. 

what it meant after tlioy emigrated, when they collecteil to- 
gether in council to forecast the. future I They first collect- 
ed themselves together and built up this Seminary of learn- 
ing or Academy, Avhich, for a long time, was the oidy one 
witliin reach. 

Well, w^e all remember tliat our fathers, many of them 
were poor — many of us were born — of "poor, but respecta- 
ble parents." 

How was it that we were enabled to educate ourselves? 
It was by working in summer and teaching school in win- 
ter, thus mostly paying our own way with the wages which 
we were able to earn by our own labor, I^Tow, it is not a 
miracle that Pomi)ey should be the most distinguished town 
in the State; there is no great end attained without some 
adequate cause to produce it; and the only reasons that you 
can give as to the origin of the great fame which your own 
town has reached in her distinguished sons, flowed naturall}^ 
from the incipient steps wdiich your fathers took at that early 
day in l)uildng up the institution called the Pompey Acade- 
my, then the great nursery of learning. 

You sent your l)oys, or rather they sent themselves, to 
that institution until they arrived at an age suitable to enter 
upon the business of life. One would seek one vocation, 
another another, and occasionally a man desired to become 
a lawyer. Many of such applied to be admitted to a clerk- 
ship with a distinguished lawyer of this village, — and I am 
proud to mention his name, — Daniel Gott, who always held 
out his kindly hand and received every applicant that came 
to him with the patronage of a father. 

Many men, distinguished now, can go back to their earl}- 
history, and remember with a kind recollection his man- 
hood. They always admired his talents; and they cannot 
but recollect with gratitude the kindly good feelings, he al- 
ways manifested towards the young men of the country. It 
is not best Mr. President, by any means, that I should oc- 
cupy much time. I have said perhaps all that is necessary 
to say. 




I 




/ / JnoL 




'^ 



-PT^L. 6/1^ 'C^ 



THE POMPEY BE-UNION. 7o 

I am proud that I was born in Pompey. A certificate 
showing we graduated from Pompey Academy has become 
a sort of title of nobility which wc love to carry around with 
us. 

I see before me " Great Pomp," and there is '' Little 
Pomp," — Horatio Seymour and John F. Seymour, born in 
this town; their early life spent here. They left here at an 

i early day and took up their residence in Utica, and their 
name of" Pomp" followed them. I should like to hear now 

. from the younger "Little Pomp." But if he is little, gen- 
tlemen, he has got a heart as large as any man in this crowd. 

There are a great many from whom I would like to hear. 
: I see here several distinguished men who left at an early 
day. Let them step up here and tell you their experience; 
and I think when one of the graduates of the Pompey Acad- 
emy who has actually won his way to fame, gets upon this 
stand and tells you his whole experience, every young man 
of ambition will know exactly how to go and do likewise- 
(Applause.) 

He closed by calling on John F. Seymour. Mr. Seymour 
came out after repeated calls, and spoke as follows : — 

REMARKS OF JOHX F. SEYMOUR. 

I Avas a child, Mr. Chairman, when tossed upon the top of 
a wagon load of furniture and carried from this place to 
Utica, but I recollect my playmates, the village green, the 
old Church, and the garden and brook behind my Father^ 
house, and I can with truth, repeat Hood's beautiful lines, 

I remember, I rememlier, 
The house where I was V)orn, 
The little window where the sun 
Came peeping in at morn. 

I remember, I remember, 

The fir trees dark and high ; 

I used to think their slender tops, 

AVere close against the sky. 

It was a childish ignorance, 
But now 'tis little joy 



76 THE POMPEY llE-UNION. 

To kiKjw I'm farther ofl' from heaven 
Than when I was a boy. 

•• Pompey Hill," as a name is not attractive. It is a eoin- 
111011 saying that school masters have been abroad in this 
hind, and some may think that this, and similar names aro 
their stately, pedantic steppings. We will do them the 
credit to believe they wonld have chosen the descriptive and 
more appropriate Indian, rather than unmeaning Latin and. 
Greek words. We regret that our Surveyor-General, Sim- 
eon DeWitt, has fastened tlie worn out names of the old 
world upon our towns and villages, but when we look at 
tliese meadows dotted with cattle and sheltering woods, at 
the fields of waving barley, and the pure streams of water, 
wliich with beautiful falls, leap down yon hill-sides into the 
valleys tar below us, then the feelings of home, and nativit}'- 
l)ecome masters of us, and we exclaim with all our hearts. 

Thy iKDiir I love, 

1 love thy rocks and rills, 

Thy Avoods, and templed hillf<. 

What a crowd of people throng up here to-day, who with 
me, feel more than we have the power to express. 

What a multitude have lived here and called it home, and 
then have gone forth reaping success in every department of, 
life, in every portion of our country. I think I know the 
reason of this success. I might not care to mention it much 
abroad, liut the truth is, the first settlers were brought up 
on potash. The thick forests which covered these hills were 
cut down, and burned, andtheir ashes converted into potasli. 
Potash paid for their farms, potash bought flour and mer- 
chandise of every sort, it was the staple, the money of this 
country, and the people who could live on potash, could live 
(Ui anything and anywhere, and so when they went down 
into the valleys, they swept everything before them. Some 
of US, Mr. Chairman, were born a little too late for that 
potash I 

As this is an occasion when records are sought and made 
of all the families which have resided here, I will briefly 






THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 77 

mention that of my father, Henry Seymour. He was a son 
of Moses Seymour, of Litchfield, Conn., liis wife the only 
child of Jonathan Forman, of Middletown Point, New fFer- 
sey, her mother was a Ledyard, of New London, Conn. The 
children left bj^ my father and mother were six, this was 
their original number, and death has not broken it, the gray 
liiuidoftime has scarcely touched the eldest, and all of them 
are in the midst of their several family circles, with almost 
the full health and strength of youth. In the order of their 
ages, they are as follows: Mary, the wife of Rutger B. ALl- 
ler, of L^tiea, Horatio Seymour, of [Ttica, Sophia, the wife of 
Edward F. Shonnard, of Yonkers, John F. Seymour, oi' 
TJtica, Helen Clarissa, widow of Led3'ard Lincklaen, of 
Cazenoviii, and Julia, the wife of Roscoe Conkling, of Utica. 
We trace back to these hills many of the tastes and princi- 
ples of our lives, not only to that Academy founded and sus- 
tained by a noble race of men, but to a home intluence, 
inaintained by a noble race of mothers, and we must not on 
this occasion fail to pay our tribute to such women, who 
were help's meet for such men. They were the descen- 
dants of revolutionary heroes, and knew more of genuine 
elegance and honest poverty than most of the present day. 
If they had fewer books than we, they knew more of what 
vvas in them. They were familiar with the best English au- 
thors of the time, both of prose and poetry. With fewer 
sshools they gave more personal attention to the education 
and discipline of their children. They were not ashamed of 
work, but were taught to be as skillful in the kitchen as in 
all the graces and refinements which adorn social life: the 
same hands which were accustomed to the choicest books 
and the rarest fiowers, nursed the sick, and prepared tables 
which would excite the envy of an epicure. 

If fortune favored them they avoided all display of any 
disparity between themselves and their neighbors, and they 
endeavored by self-denial to buildup instead of dragging 
down their husbands. Their toil on these hills did not un- 
fit them tor anyplace in life elsewhere. Tho^- maj- have 



78 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

lioartl and known less of what are now. called the rights of 
women, but the^^ knew as much, if not more, of their duties. 
Believing tlieir highest sphere was that of true wives and 
faithful mothers, they were rewarded^by the admiration and 
devotion of men, and by children who gather here to-day 
to pay a tribute to their worth, and intluence, more noble 
and lusting, than any which can be won in a political arena. 

The President then read the following sentiment- 

The City of Syracuse — Pompey greets her younger though 
more ambitious sister on this glad and festive occasion. 
Thougii above her always, we consent to stand on a level 
with her to-day. 

In obedience to loud calls, Hon. D. G. Fort, of Oswego, 
took the stand, and delivered the following address. 

MR. FORT'S RESPONSE. 

My Old Friends and Neighbors : 

I can hardh' understand upon what principle I have been 
^sandwiched in hereto-day, between Governors and Senators 
and Judges, to make a speech, unless it is upon the princi- 
ple that the painter, when he makes a picture, paints upon 
the background something dark, that the picture itself may 
be more distinctly seen. It is almost forty years since first 
I came among this people. I l)rought with me few years, 
little knowledge, and less experience. My lot was cast upon 
these hills, with parents who had come out West to seek their 
fortune. I was educated in these schools — long live the 
memory of the old academy there ; I have worshipped in 
3'Our churches, and some of my kindred are sleeping in yon- 
der cemetery. My lot is now cast among others, and stand- 
ing here to-day, I say \vith pleasure, that no memories of my 
past life come home to me stronger or furnish keener emo- 
tions of pleasure than those connected with my residence 
among this people and the anticipation of occasional returns 
here. I remember, also, when a boy, and first began to 
have youthful aspirations and build air castles of what I 
would be in the world. In the neii>'hborhood where I lived 



THE POMPEY RE UNION. , 79 

was 11 man — doubtless many of you will remcnibcr liiiii — 
who spent his summers upon the Erie Canal as captain of a 
line boat, an occupation much more honorable then than 
uoAV, and his winters with his family in their country home. 
Evenini^ after evening have I sat and listened to his well- 
told stories of startling adventures and experience in the life 
which he had chosen. My mind filled Avith delight at the 
greatness that he had achieved, and I then resolved that 
when sutticient years and wisdom had gathered around my 
head, I would strive for the same high position that he oc- 
cupied. But, as many have found, I too found that fre- 
quently " the best laid plans of mice and men gang aft 
aglee.'' Many years have come and gone since then, I have 
never forgotten the ambition of my early life ; but alas, alas, 
the dream of my childhood has never been realized and 
it seems to me to-day to be further off than ever before. 
•(Applause). "Man proposes, but God disposes." I look 
around upon this vast audience, and endeavor to find the 
faces of those that were so familiar to us in the days that are 
past. Thanks to a kind Providence, they are not all gone. 
A few still remain, like ancient landmarks in the well-set- 
tled country, but they are fast growing less, and soon we 
shall find them, " like angels's visits, few and far between." 
I ask myself, "Where, where are the friends that to me were 
so dear?" and the answer comes swelling up, some have 
gone away from us, many of them are lying in yonder 
church-yard, sleeping quietly, and the remainder have come 
out here to-day, with warm hearts and whitening locks to 
welcome Pompey's children home again. All that remains 
now of many warm hearts that beat with life and love a few 
years ago, is the stone in yonder cemetery, marking the place 
wdiere they sleep. May the grass grow green and fresh over 
their graves, and may the memory of their many acts of love 
and kindness be as fresh and enduring in the hearts of their 
children. Here again we meet under these old shades, while 
familiar voices of the past call up recollections that long- 
since had slumbered in forgetful ness. It is a source of pride 



80 , THE I'OMl'EY RE-UNION. 

and ii;rati1icati()ii that we wlio liavo always pursued the com- 
mon and private walks of life, can i)oint to so many old 
friends tVom this town who liave achieved the g-reatness 
whi(;h lias been denied to ns ; l)ut here we meet to-day: and 
meet as brothers; liere for once we meet upon one common 
level, as we sit and chat around the old hearthstones and 
these well-tilled tables. But boys and times have ehang-ed 
since then; years ag-o we were in the habit of greeting- the 
boys or Pompcy Hill as Horatio, George, Charley, Leroy, 
Lncien and Henry ; but to-day wlien we speak to Horatio, 
we must take off our hat and address him as Governor, and 
George, who used to be so well acquainted with all of us, 
comes hi're to-day from the golden shore, and we must 
greet him as Senator of the United States; while Charles, 
Leroy and Lncien, liave dropped tlie old names that we used 
to give them, and come here to be introduced to our people 
as Judge ; and the epnlets on Heniw's shoulders speak tons 
of noble service he has rendered his country, and bid us 
address him only as General, Well, well, boys I you have 
done nobly. Although we belong to the class where high 
privates aic always needed, we can assure you tliat while 
our children cannot hear their fathers called "Goyernor," 
"Senator,"' "Judge,"' or "General,"' it is with pride that we 
tell them that we were once permitted to attend school and 
play marbles Avitli boys who have since achieved thatliigli dis- 
tinction. But I must stop. I will, however, tell you that I 
Avell remember a lesson that was taught me inyonder Acad- 
emy by Mr. Stel)bins. an ol<l teacher there. I am not going 
to let this vast audience pass from here without endeavoring 
to press u]>on them the lesson he taught me. He was trying 
to teach his class what so many of us have tried to teacii 
others — not to talk too much, i Laughter). The doctrine 
beheld out to his class was. if we would oidy sit still an«l 
" look wise,"" we might pass off for great men; whereas, if 
we undertook to talk, we must talk s:cnse,for novsensc, would 
surely exjiose shallowness. I remember the story he illus- 
trated it l»v. He said there was a certain man who had a 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 81 

son Avho was a fool. One day the man was to be visited by 
his minister and a deacon in tlie church : he told his son, 
'•Xow, John, when these visitors come, don't ^-ou speak a 
word ; it don't make any matter what they may say to you, 
don't you speak a word to them." Tlie boy promised ; the 
visitors came. In the afternoon the father had occasion to 
leave tlic room, and the visitors began to talk to tlie boy, 
but not a word would lie answer. At last one ot them re- 
marked, " I believe our brother has one son that is a fool, 
and I guess this is the one."' The l)oy Jumped up and 
rushed to his father, saying, " Father, father, they have 
found it out, and I never said a iconf .'" (Laughter). Just 
here I am reminded that perliaps I had belter make a per- 
sonal application of this lesson to myself (Laughter). If 
I had kept still, and tried to look wise in silence, perhaps 
some of these strangers might have taken me for a Governor 
or a Judge, but inasmuch as I have not done that, I Avill do 
the next Ijest thing and leave the floor for some one who is 
to follow. (Applause). 

President "Wood, then stated tliat he was about to call 
upon one who had come from beyond the Mississippi to 
engage in the festivities of this occasion. One who received 
his early education in Pompey Academy, and wlio has since 
become eminent in the medical profession, and for tlie last 
twenty-four years has filled the Professorship of Anatomy 
and Physiology in the St. Louis University. He then called 
upon Dr. Charles W. Stevens, of St. Louis, Mo. 

Dr. Stevens then took the stand and said : 

Friends and Associates of my early life: — 

I take pleasure in responding to the call made upon me 
by our President. We have heard eloquent and appropriate 
speeches, full of wit, humor, and sentiment, from the gen- 
tlemen who have preceded me. 

They are all lawyers, and eminent in their profession : 
they have praised each other magnificently, and have done 
so in hearlfelt sincerity, and we are well assured that the re- 

6 



82 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

cipieiits have well earned, and well merited such eulogy. I 
am indeed proud of the fact, that so many who were, in 
years long gone by, my schoolmates and. playmates, have - 
attained such iiigh position and excellent reputations. But 
I would ask you to call to mind the many worthy men who 
have in other callings, or in other professions done service, 
entitling tlieni to worth}' mention. 

He that does the most to henetit his fellow man, should 
stand highest on the roll of honor, and could honors he be- 
stowed or made commensurate with the good accomplished, 
many who are now unknown, or in comparative obscurity, 
would stand highest in good repute. In making this re- 
mark I have an object in view, and that is to call to your 
minds the name and services of a man who was a Pompey 
boy, and who has accomplished more of substantial good, 
and is more of a benefactor than any lawyer or any doctor 
wlio ever went from Pompey, or Pompey Academy. The 
man about whom I have thus awakened your curiosity, is 
the inventor of the melodian — Jeremiah Carhart. He worked 
at his trade as a cabinet maker in this village for some years, 
and while following his occupation in the city of Butfalo, 
he invented this soul-stirring instrument. I venture to as- 
sert that no instrument ever invented has been so fully adap- 
ted to the purpose of rousing those ennobling sentiments or 
feelings which music is capable ot doing, as the melodian, 
and were it now at once swept from existence, an hiatus 
would be created that could not easily be filled. It has been 
manufactured by thousands upon thousands, and is found 
everywhere from the Atlantic to the Pacific. You find it in 
the houses of the rich, but oftener among middle classes, and 
very often in the cottages and log cabins of the poor ; you 
find it in thousands of churches, even way oft" on the verge 
of civilization, in the frontier settlements, in the humble 
churches of the prairies have I seen it and have been charmed 
by its vibrations. Perhaps you Avill not find it in St. Paul's 
or in Trinity, but look into all those churches like the " lit- 
tle one round the corner," Avhere there is true piety and 



THE POMPEY RE-rXIOX. 83 

heartv devotion, and there j-ou will find it. The man then, 
who has made music for tlie million, who has made so many 
hearts and homes more cheerful, bright and glowing with 
inspiration and happiness, who has added life or heightened 
the enjoyment of the religious worshipper deserves to be 
ranked as a benefactor, and truly may it be said of him, 
"that the world is better for his having lived in it,'' Jere- 
miah Carhart sleeps in Greenwood, but the good he has 
done lives after him. Well, mv friends, I am glad I am 
here to-day, I have come from beyond the Mississippi, and 
would have traveled twice twelve hundred miles to join a-qu 
on this festive occasion. My life in the great west, I am 
proud to say, has not been mis-spent, I have practiced my 
profession nearly thirty } ears, and during twenty-four of 
these years I have been engaged in Medical institutions as 
a teacher of Anatomy, and am now ministering, as best I 
can, to the •• mind diseased" of three hundred unfortunate 
fellow beings. I saw St. Louis in its infancy, when it had 
but sixteen thousand inhabitants. She now numbers over 
three hundred thousand, and istli£ fourth city in the Union. 
There she sits as a Queen, on the bluffs of that mighty river: 
she is sweeping into her lap the products, the wealth of that 
great valley; she is the center of over^twenty thousand miles 
of inland navigation, and is now the terminus of fourteen 
railroads. She is now demanding to be made the capital 
city of the nation, and mark my prediction, that in ten 
years, the marbles, the beaittiful columns, and cornices of 
yonder splendid edifice will travel across the continent in 
the direction where it is said the " star of Empire wends its 
way;" and I am not certain but if we had a half dozen of the 
energetic sons of old Pompey there, we might accomplish 
the matter in half the time. 

"Well, I have said enough about St. Louis, and I trust you 
will excuse me for my enthusiasm : but I am glad I was 
born in Pompey. I look back to my boyhood, and my early 
manhood, as the happiest period of my life, and as I stroll 
over these hills and valleys, the rocks, the trees, and streams 



84 THE I'OMPEY RE-UNION. 

call up most pleasing reminiscences, and I wish I were a 
l)oy again. I see about me here, the familiar faces of sev- 
eral who were my teachers; there is Miss Charlotte, who 
taught many of us our A. B. C, and I see yonder Manoah 
Pratt, who afterwards in a room of the old Academy, taught 
me other rudiments, and here on my left stands Asa Wells, 
who taught me geography and grammar, and I see all 
around me the hoys and girls of those days, now most of 
them happy husbands and wives, or tathers or mothers: but 
how arc we all cliangcd; time has made his mark, most of 
us have come to that period when we look at the short future 
and contrast it with the long past. 

We have had here a grand and joyful re-union, soon we 
must shake the parting hand, and by the lightning train 
speed to our distant homes. May the sunset of our lives be 
bright; and 

" Jn life's flosin;j; liour when the trombliiiji soul llios, 
And death stills the heart's last emotion, 
Oh ! then may the seraph of mi'rey arise 
Like a star on Eternity's ocean." 

Dr. Stevens having conchided his remarks, the melody of 
"■ music" from Dresher's full band again tilled the grove. 
After which the President said : " We liave heard much from 
Pompe^-'s sons and it may be pleasant and interesting now 
to hear from some person who was not born in Pompey, not 
that there is any want of material here, for Pompey has yet 
remaining some thousands more of statesmen and orators. 
I therefore, propose the following toast : 

"The unfortunates of the human race born outside of the 
tOAvn of Pompey. They liavc our hearty sympathy and con- 
dolence, and we can only say that we hope they will do bet- 
ter the next time." 

I call upon Col. Andrew J. Smith, of Syracuse. Col. 
Smith responded in a humorous and amusing speech, and 
closed by reciting in an etfective manner, "Miles O'Peiley, 
after the fall of Richmond." 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 85 

Tlie next toast proposed by President AVood, was as fol- 
lows : — 

'• The towns of Onondaga County — The town of Poni- 
pey extends fraternal greeting to her sisters, and invokes 
for them a future as bright, honorable and prosperous as 
her past has been." And called for a voluntary response, 
when F. "W. Fenner, Esq., of Lysander, took the stand and 
spoke as follows : — 

MR. FEJ^NER'S SPEECH. 

3Ir. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen : — 

I have been listening with feelings of pleasure to the re- 
marks that have been made by the distinguished ex-residents 
of Pompey — those who have " gone out" from the old town, 
and made themselves distinguished as Governors, States- 
men, Judges, Lawyers, Doctors and Poets. , But I think it 
is fair that those from old Pompey, who have not gained a 
handle to their names should have a representation upon 
til is platform. 

I claim to hail from the old town, although it was my 
misfortune not to be born on the hill, but down in the val- 
ley. In 1818 I was carried with my father and his family, 
by the force of circumstances, to the forlorn and forsaken 
town of Lysander, and from there to Camillus, where Init 
few then lived. Well, my father lived until 1851, an in- 
dustrious farmer, a good citizen, and a credit to the old 
town of Pompey. He was a tiller of the soil, a hewer of 
the timber; but he came out victorious, with nine children, 
but no lawyers or professional men among them I However, 
the old fathers and mothers of Pompey taught their chil- 
dren good morals, industry and economy, and may God be 
praised that we have been blessed with such fathers and 
mothers. Pompey may well be proud of them ; for 'without 
them none of our distinguished and honorable friends who 
have addressed us to-day, could have said that they were 
born in Pompey I (Laughter), 

I am not a public speaker, I plow the soil, but I did think 



86 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

that we of the hardy hand ourselves, needed a representa- 
tive here, and I determined to be that one, as no other re- 
sponded. We cannot all be statesmen, judges and lawyers, 
and we don't want to be, and we would not be if we could. 
(Laughter). Some of us must look to the soil, and to the 
genuine, hard honest workers the country owes its prosperi- 
ty, and I think the dear old town has abundant reason to be 
proud of her farmers, as well as of her other great men, 
for without them the professions would come to naught. 
(Applause). 

The Chairman then announced that an original poem, 
entitled "A Fragment," would be read by H. D. L. Sweet, 
of Syracuse. Mr. Sweet then read the following poem : 

We who l)oast that our grand-i^arents formed that noble httle band 
Who subdued the mighty forests that encumbered this fair land ; 
They who made the howling wilderness to blossom like the rose ; 
In their duskj' neighbors finding friends, and not insatiate foes, 
Should remember that the relics which we find in all our fields 
Point to people who once dwelt here that no history reveals. 

I have sought the tomes historic, I have roamed tradition's shade. 
For some hidden written record that this people must have made ; 
I have watched for the revealing by some dusky Indian Chief, 
Such a legend as would strengthen every link of my belief; 
But alas, in vain I've sought them, still they all elude jiursuit ; 
All conjecture ends in chaos, every Avitness still is mute. 

Thus I thought and thus I'd written, it was only yester night. 
That once more I roamed the forest in a sad disheartened plight, 
And I saw as it was near a mighty monarch of the wood, 
(iuite unthinking I approached it, and beneath its branches stood. 
All unconscious I addressed it, as I viewed its form with pride ; 
Few, and simple were the questions, and in whispers it replied: — 
"Mountain pine tree, standing in the glory yet. 
Half forgotten of the nation which this hill 
Once supijorted with its plenty?" "I forget? 
Sooner cease the murmur of yon little rill ; 
Brothers fell by fire and ax in sight of me ; 
Fields were cleared of forests and the waving corn 
Grew in place of beeches, maples, that you see, 
Years, and years before the eldest ones were born, 
Budely, bleakly whistled winds around my form ; 
Lonely, bravely stood I in a century's storm." 



THE POMPEY RE UNION. 87 

Carry back your mental vision tliroimli the far reeedin.u years, 

When these trees yon now term monarchs could have formed the shaft. 

of spears ; 
'Ere the Plj-moth rock was trodden by those puritanic feet, 
Or the classic James was rijipled by a Newport's modest tleet ; 
Ere the Sjianiards built Augustine, or the Frenchmen reared (.)uel)ec; 
Or the Dutchmen on the Hudson found that little island speck ; 
Here a colony resided, these the fields that once were tilled 
r.y a purely peaceful ])eoi)le, in the arts of war unskilled. 

Here the sound of rural lalior in the sweetest gentlest strains, 
Filled the breezes with their music, where no jar of discord reigns ; 
AVhere no sound of selfish traffic could be heard within the mart ; 
And disasters born of commerce brought no anguish to the heart, 
Jlere were no conflicting dogmas; here no quarrels of the press, 
Here the wealthy were not Avorried by pale poverty's distress. 
■Here the poor were free from envy of a neighbor's greater wealth, 
For the man was counted richest M'ho enjoyed the finest health. 
Pontics were uninvented, office-seekers all unknown, 
Xon-producers lean and stinted lived on what they earned alone. 

Women knew no height of f;ishion, wore no ribbons, i)earls or lace ; 
Decked their forms in simple vesture, with a modest native grace ; 
Won their men with love, not passion, that divine but subtle force ; 
Raised their babes to honest manhood, (never seeking a divorce) ; 
Novels then did not attract them, no, nor Saratoga Springs, 
Or a thousand dollar Cashmere, or a pair of diamond rings ; 
Ignorant of all around them, save their duty— is it queer" 
They enjoyed the rights God gave them, each in her resi)ective sphere? 

Years and years this peojile flourished, in the iilentitude of peace, 
Giving praise w'ith hearts unsullied, as each harvest brought increase. 
Pints were built of trees and branches, covered o'er with curling bark, 
R(*und which trailing vines were clustered, bearing blossoms rich and 

rare 
In the spring-time ; but in autumn stripped of all their foliage stark. 
Giving fruitage to the people as a recompense for care, 
Fields were cleared, and plowed and planted, smaller seeds were deftly 

sown. 
Corn we hoed and flocks were tended, blooming grass was duly niowi:. 
Smiling plenty crowned their labors, gentle peace encircled all. 
Till the jealousy of Indians reached its climax, wrought their fall. 

It was in the early autumn, when the evening breeze was mild ; 
■ That arose a midnight tempest, louder rose the war-whoop wild ; 
Flashed the lightning sliarp and vivid, but as quick the forest child 
AVhirled the gleaming bloody hatchet, buried in some settler's brain, 
Freeing souls from earthly bondage, trials, troubles, cares and pain ; 



88 . THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

Flowed the red tide like a torrent, fuller, freer, flowed the rain, 
"Washing from the reeking greensward every spot of bloody stain I 
"Wailing went the tearing tempest, as its moans grew low and soft, 
Rose the flaming lights more fearful, leeping terribly aloft. 
From the cabin, barn and cottage — in the valley, on the hill. 
When the morning blessed the landscape, all was gone and all was 
stilj." 

At the conclusion of Mr. Sweet's poem, George II. Jer- 
ome, of Niles, Michigan, was loudly called fof, Avho stepped 
upon the platform and said : 

Jlr. President: — 

At the call of my friends about me here, I have consent- 
ed to come forward to show you what grand old Pompey 
has done and can do in the way of her ])hysical productions. 
While the brains of Pompey have been well represented 
here to-day, and her moral average has been shown to be 
■II good deal above par, none have had the courage to stand 
up ior ])h)/siccd men. I stand before you as a pretty fair rep- 
resentative of a well-preserved physical Pompey boy — do I 
not ? Look at me and see if you detect any egotism in that. 
Well, musck has its advantages as well as anything else, as 
iin incident or two this day occurring, and on these grounds 
will show. As we this morning came down from the Globe 
Hotel in Syracuse, we saw standing on the side walk, two 
or three boys — one of them a good chunk of a fellow, as we 
passed, spoke out, " there's some good looking men"* — " I'll 
bet they are going up to that Pompey re-union." "By 
George, I wish I had been born on Pompey Hill." Now, 
Mr. President I ask you if ever a neatei* cleaner compliment 
was paid to physical development than that? Another 
incident. A little while ago, a lean Cassius-like friend of 
mine, one whom Euclid must have had in his eye when he 
defined a straight line — " the shortest distance between two 
given points," stepped up to me and said, Henry, you seem 
to be doing more of hand-shaking and kissing than is your 
share ; w^hy, my friend, said I, don't you know that the 
Committee of Arrangements decided to have the hand-shal- 
W(] and bussing principally done by Ponipey's fat, well-to-do 



THE POMPEY BE-UXIOX. 89 

physical sons— men whom that kind ot husiness don't tire ? 
My longitudinal friend almost instantaneously collapsed, 
and has been seen but once since, and that was at a refresh- 
m.ent booth, making a most vigorous effort to recruit. 

Some pretty tall bragging, as I take it, has been done 
here to-day, about the glory of birth. Why you can't find 
in all this vast crowd, a man, woman or child, who will 
admit that they have been born anywhere else than in old 
Pompey. Xow, if there is any bragging to be done on the 
score of birth I can beat at that game every mothers one of 
you. for I was not only born in old Pompey, but I was born 
tici<:€. I had here a dual birth. And if you dent believe 
me, I can produce a tsvo hundred avoirdupois witness, a 
tiC'ii brother, nearly as big as myself, to swear to it. Beat 
that who can, for although Pompey has given birth to Gov- 
ernors, M. C.'s, Judges, and lots jof big men, as we have to- 
day often been told, yet she has sent out but mighty few 
men of double birth. Why, I have a brother, whenever he 
looks at me, T mean at my dual — duplicated self, involun- 
tarily exclaim, "what a birth !"" 

Xow, Mr. President, not a word has been said about the 
Lyceums of old Pompey. A moment about that and I az-i 
done. We all remember the Lyceum fever and furor dur- 
ing the reign of Stebbins. Xot a place, not a time, not an 
Occasion was too sacred for spouting and debate. You, Mr. 
Chairman, must recollect the time Avhen you under the hill, 
jast below where you used to live, Avaxed eloquent, ^vith no- 
body but stones, trees, fences, and G. H. Jerome well con- 
cealed under the fence, for your auditors. Don't you ? Your 
honest blush gives the answer. I was one of a number of 
the Academy boys who organized a Lyceum, appointed a 
chairman and held grand discussions in the belfry of the old 
Baptist church. Xor was our discussions in that heacerdy 
locality always rpiritaol. Aye more, I was a member, in 
good and regular standing of a debating club, organized and 
its meetings held in a seven-by-nine ice house. And it was 
at one of those debates on a political question, that a brother 



90 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

of mine, Wm. Watson, was converted from Whiggery to De- 
mocracy, and the very next day after his conversion, he 
borrowed the money of a Whig brother, and enclosed it to- 
Edwin Croswell, for the Albany Argus, the first Democratic 
paper ever seen in my father's house. After that he held 
office as a Democrat, and lived a Democrat up to the passage- 
of the Kansas-Nebraska bill. So it is, I hail with quickened 
and glad remembrance those Lyceums, for it is to them that 
we are so largely indebted here to-day, for those Ciceros 
and Demosthenese, who Ijave fulminated so acceptably at 
this memorable re-union. 

But, Mr. President, I came not here to talk, I simply con- 
sented to stand up here for a moment in defense, and if you 
please, in illustration of Pompey's 2)husical renown — to tell 
you, that not alone is Pompey's fame intellectual, nor yet 
alone is her grandeur moral — that wherever bold adventure 
and physical heroism have thrown their gauntlet and piled 
their monuments — that wherever siruw and _pfi^c/i; have re- 
corded their victories — that on those cannon-riven battle- 
fields, where liberty was the guerdon and muscle the im- 
plement of its achievement, there — there too — Pompey's 
boys are seen at the front, in no spirit of self-glory, shout- 
ing to their comrades born of the lowlands, Come on ! Come 

on : : 

At the close of Mr. Jerome's address, Dr. R. F. Stevens, 
of Syracuse, made a few remarks, as follows •. 

DR. R. F. STEVENS' STATEMENT. 

3Ir. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : — 

For some strange reason or other, the committee of ar- 
rangements from the town of Pompey seemed to think it 
necessary to have a corresponding secretary in the city of 
Syracuse, and it fell to my lot to be named for that office. 

I will not detain you now further than to mention that for 
the last three weeks, I have not had any opportunity to 
attend to a single item of my own business ; I have a great 
many letters with me, thirty or forty of which would be 



» 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 91 

very interesting to yon, and I will mention some of the 
names of those that yon will readily recognize. 

Charles Mason, who says it was impossible for him to be 
here. I wonld be glad to read it, bnt it is too length}^ Rev. 
Jared Ostrander and his wife, Lucien Birdsej'e, several let- 
ters from the Marshes, Mnrrays, Fargoes, Jeromes, Bost- 
wicks, Wrights, and others, are in my possession. I will 
state as corresponding secretary, that I have sent ont over 
fifteen hundred letters of invitation, and I will state also 
that I have distributed to-day, among the multitude here 
assembled, over six thousand circulars or programmes of 
the exercises of the day. 

This will indicate to you very clearly, the magnitude of 
this re-union, and I merely mention it as secretary of the 
organization, that I regard it most extraordinary, I have not 
the slightest doubt, we have here' to-day, over eight thou- 
sand people. 

One more toast will be read, to be responded to b}' Mr. 
VanBrocklin, and then so far as I know, the exercises of 
the afternoon will be closed after hearing from the quartette 
again, a piece selected by themselves. 

The day being nearly spent, the President announced that 
he would propose but one more toast, as follows : — 

The j^resent residents of Pomjjeij — Worthy sons of noble 
sires. In their hands the fair fame of the old town will suf- 
fer 110 reproach. Its escutcheon will remain bright and un- 
tarnished. He called upon Wm. W. VanBrocklin, Esq., to 
respond, 

MR. VAN BROCKLIN'S RESPONSE. 

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : 

This is no occasion to render an excuse for this unexpect- 
ed call. From what has already been said during the ex- 
ercises of this day, which will ever remain sacred and fond! y 
cherished in our every heart, and from Avhat we have seen^ 
we have a fair account, and a clear demonstration of what 



92 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

l^ompey has produced. What the future shall be, depends 
upon her present citizens. I noticed that an idea that I ven- 
tured to suggest this morning, in the address of welcome, 
"• that there is a philosophy closely connecting a people with 
the land of their birth," was somewhat elaborated in that 
appropriate essay delivered on this occasion by one of mj 
early schoolmates, Mrs. Miller, who so opportunely occu- 
pied the vacancy occasioned by the regretted absence of the 
accomplished Grace GreeuAvood. You will remember that 
she demoHstrated tlie proposition, by facts observed by the 
celebrated Baj-ard Taylor, among the rugged P^-renees, and 
the majestic snow-crowned Alps. Governor Seymour, too, 
gently, almost poetically touched the same cord, in his beau- 
tiful allusion to the fishes of the sea and the wild denizens 
of the forest. ]Srow, while I firmly believe that nativity has 
much to do with the characteristics of mankind, I just as 
frankly confess, that all the transcendent excellencies of 
character, that individualize the great and good of earth, do 
not depend entirely upon the spot upon which they hap- 
pened to be born. It has been said that Pompey is a good 
place in which to be born, and a still better place from which 
to emigrate. I think I can accommodate both of these 
propositions, with the stamp of truth. The first has been 
demonstrated. As to the second, I would say, if you have 
ambition for wealth, or fame; if you would acquire distinc- 
tion in forensic debate, or in legislative halls; if you would 
reach the highest niche among the kings of finance, or the 
ultimate goal of the statesman's ambition ; leave these glo- 
rious old hills, and go where wealth, and worldly honors Avill 
be showered upon 3'ou, for " a prophet is not without honor, 
except in his own country." But if you would hold a closer 
communion with God, and be enabled placidly to view the 
jarring elements of strife and contention, raging in the 
world around and beneath you, then still linger around these 
sacred x)eaks — Nature's self-appointed temples, that the 
faithless and the false should ne'er pollute. I can assure 
you from experience, having had a mixed existence of ex- 
citement from without, and repose among the verdant hills 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 98 

of this my native town, that for comfort, and the full enjoy- 
ment of the amenities of social life, and 1he cnltivation of 
the more ennobling faculties of our nature, a country life is 
the true condition of our being, where we can oft when 
returned from the field, "drink deep drafts from the old oaken 
bucket, the iron-bound bucket, the moss-covered bucket. 
Avhich hangs in the well." A countr}- life is conducive to 
temperance. Tliere remains, moreover, much good cheer 
in the good old town of Pompey. 

You have seen it here to-day. in the sumptuous tables 
s[)read, from which so many thousands have been refreshed. 
Health and happiness, innocence and virtue, too, are the 
''ondilions of a life among these pure breezes of our moun- 
tain homes. This you have seen to-day, in the honest spark- 
ling eyes of the young sons and daughters of Pompey as 
as with nimble feet, and gushing hearts of welcome, the)' 
have passed through these aisles, administering to the phy- 
sical wants of this vast multitude : while the bounding blood 
of youthful vigor coursing their veins, has given them a vi- 
vacity and earnestness, wliich has assured you how welcome 
you have been made to your earl}' home. And while the 
keeping of the enviable reputation of old Pompey, rests with 
such as have to-day met and welcomed home the wandering 
elans, I can confidently affirm the truth of the proposition, 
"That in the hands of the present residents of Pompey, the 
fair fame of the old hill-town will not degenerate." For this 
we have good reason, as it has been demonstrated, that 
Pompey cannot naturally produce any but great men and 
women. Yet, you will find in the future, that there will not 
be that pre-eminent notoriety among Pompey's children, 
that there has been in the past. This I am constrained to 
say, as I am more in the habit of dealing with facts, than to 
amuse or flatter. 

As I have said, the land of our birth, however dearly we 
may love it, does not entirely form our characters. And it 
is so with those who have acquired eminent distinction in 
life, whose birth place was Pompej". Other circumstances 



<)4 THE I'OMPEY RE-UNION. 

have Lud a controlling inlliience upon their destiny — to-wit : 
the good character and example of their parents — the foct 
that they, at great sacrifice, established in this then pioneer 
town, good schools and churches — nurseries where the 
young mind, naturally adapted to growth and cultivation, 
has been fully developed, and thrown forth upon the workl, 
to achieve great good for God and humanity. Other locali- 
ties have caught the spirit, which at that early day founded 
thePompey Academy, and emulating the bright example of 
our fatliars, set high up among the clouds, radiant with 
light to illumine the surrounding hills and valleys, we find 
that other institutions of learning have sprung up, in Onon- 
daga Valley, Cazenovia, Homer, and other places in this vi- 
cinity, which, in their turn, will send forth great and good 
men and women, to elevate and refine society. They are 
to-day educating Pompey's children, and I apprehend it is 
the duty of the foster fathers of our venerable Academy, 
to entertain enlarged and comprehensive views of the neces- 
sities of the situation, and command at any price, the servi- 
ces of an excellent corps of instructors, who will call within 
its sacred walls as of old, students from the valleys, and all 
the surrounding country. It is thus, in this age of compe- 
tition, of enterprise, and of progress, that the present citi- 
zens of Pompey can maintain her ancient glory and renown. 
It is thus that the good character inherited from our an- 
cestors, and the principles inculcated by our fiithers, will 
be experienced generations yet to come. It will not do for 
Pompey to rest upon the laurels already won. She no long- 
er enjoys the monopoly of Academic lore. And while she 
may not degenerate, surrounding towns have already reached 
the high plane of excellence it has so long been her privi- 
lege to occupy, 

I have been amused to-day as I cannot amuse you, espec- 
ially with the speech of Senator Js'oxon, in which he tells us 
how near he came to being an Irishman, And this calls to 
mind a class of present citizens of Pompey, unknown to us, 
Mr, Chairman, in our school boy days. The town is being 



THE POMPEY RE-UNIOX. 95 

filled up with emigrants from the '•' Green Emerald Isle," 
and of them it need not be said, " That they were born upon 
St. Patrick's day, to make them full blooded Irishmen. They 
Avere born, not in Pompey, but upon the green sod of old 
Ireland. And they come it seems, to inherit through their 
economical and industrious modes of life, what you and 
your fathers have left— the green hills and valleys of your 
native town. Already upon the ruins of a church, thev 
have erected another, giving it a different name, and there 
they worship the same God your tathers worshipped, upon 
the same spot, sixty years ago. The future of Pompey will 
somewhat depend upon this class of its present citizens, and 
I am happy to believe, that under the genial influence of 
our institutions, and the desirable opportunities offered in 
this land to which they come, their future, will give to their 
adopted country, the home of their choice tho" not of their 
birth, the Currans, the Emmets, and the St. Patricks of the 
United States. I look then for a brilliant future for Pom- 
pey, not only from the descendents of the original settlers 
but from those as well who have made it the home of their 
adoption. Another new church has arisen, and within its 
consecrated walls, many worship the God of our fathers, who 
were the playmates of your early life. In other portions of 
I'ompey, religious changes have not been so marked. In 
Delphi, near where dwelt the Litchfields, Slocums, Sheldons, 
Bloweis. Barbers, Hills, McClures, and many other old fa- 
miliar names, you will find the present citizens, still wor- 
shiping in the Baptist and Methodist churches. The socie- 
ty of Pleasant Valley, too, at Oran, still remains, whose lib- 
eral creed embraces within the covenant of Divine o-race 
:he whole human family. Here you may find the hospita- 
ble home of Xoah Palmer, of Ehas Barnes, a walkincr encv- 
iopedia of that portion of Pompey, the genial Joseph Sco- 
ville, D. D. Denison, whose father the old Doctor Denison, 
was noted for his sound democracy and skill in curin cr dis- 
ases. Col. C. C. Midler, of military fame, when general 
:rainings were in taahion, and many other scions of"a wor- 
thy stock, whom I have not memorv, or time to name. At 



9i) THE POMPEY EE-UNION. 

the four corners four miles iiortli of Pompey Hill, the 
clmrch erected by the Westons, the Clements, the Hibbards, 
the riinsdales, the Clapps and others, many of wliose de- 
scendents yet remain, is now no more used as a church, its 
niembership having been absorbed by Manlius, Jamesvillo 
and I'ompey Hill. And where once the l)read of Heaven 
was dispensed to the luingering multitude, the l)read which 
perishes is now sheltered upon the tarm of Addison Clapp. 

But of all tlie cliurclies familiar to the early days of Pom- 
pey, located upon this venerable hill, none remain except 
the Methodist and Congregational churches ; and especially 
in the latter 3'ou will to-day find very many names tamiliar 
to the early settlers of Pompey. There still you will tind 
the Jeromes, the Stearns, the Bakers, the Wells, the Wood- 
fords, the Butts and many other descendants from the "old 
stock," whose rigid discipline, and bright example of the 
christian graces, continue to yield copious harvests of "peace 
on earth, and good will to man.'' May they remain to the 
latest generation, land-marks upon tlic shores of time, where 
the future pilgrim, returning like you to-day to the home 
of his childhood, shall find a familiar spot, known and prized 
in life's young day. I regret that the time has been too 
short, in which to prepair sentiments appropriate to every 
trade and occupation, represented here to-day. We would 
have been pleased and instructed, had the artisans whom 
Pompey has sent forth, greath'to her honor, been called upon 
to respond to an appropriate toast. You will not be under 
the necessity of going farther than the city of Syracuse, to 
lind shops conducted by sons of Pompey. They can make 
machines, as well as machine poetry. I allude to the Sweet 
brothers. 

By Mr. John F. Seymour. 

Palmer the sculptor, was he not born here ? 

By Mr. Van Brocklin — I believe he was, and so was Car- 
hart, the inventor of the Melodeon. But should the Mel- 
odeon, notwithstanding the vast amount of happiness it has 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 97 

conferred upon mankind, be struck entirely from existence, 
we should not suffer much, as long as we have the " human 
voice divine," which can discourse such heavenly music, as 
that to which we have this day listened, from the ''Darston 
Quartette." The only mistake I apprehend, made in this 
glorious re-union, is, that we did not appreciate the magni- 
tude of the occasion, and resolve to have it continue three 
days, instead of one, to give an opportunity more thorough- 
ly to renew the scenes of early life. As it is, so soon we 
meet, so soon to part; and while the lingering farewell 
dwells upon our lips, the moistened eye of the thousands 
who hear me, indicates the deep feeling that pervades this 
sacred place. And let us remember, with a faith that 
reaches beyond the shores of time, and spans the endless 
cycles of eternity, that upon the resurrection morn will be 
another re-union of Pompey's children, past, present, and 
future, more gloiious and enduring, when we shall see, high 
upon the scroll of eternity, amid the honored names of the 
remotest generations, and the succession of generations, 
down through the long vistas of the ages past, the name of 
Pompey, encircled with an immortal wreath of perennial 
flowers, and all her children redeemed and purified, for the 
society of a higher and purer life. 

The exercises at the grove were closed by the Durston 
Quartette singing a farewell song. The time intervening 
between this and the evening meeting was spent in social 
intercourse, in taking rides and walks to familiar places, 
which awakened the slumbering memories of early days. 
Some visited the Academy and the grounds upon which 
once stood the " old wind mill."" Some hastened to pay a 
tribute of respect and veneration to the " old homestead,*" 
now in the hands of strangers. Many repaired to the vil- 
lage cemetery, a beautiful spot located on the highest land 
in Pompey, affording a comprehensive view of the surround- 
ing country. Here rests the sacred ashes of the fathers, 
mothers and friends of early life. And as the various par- 
ties sought the places most to memory dear, and walked 

7 



98 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

again upon the soil that gave them birtli, who can catch, 
in imagination the panorama of thought and feeling, that 
must have passed in review, as the thousand recollections of 
youthful days crowded upon the minds ? Who delineate the 
varied emotions, that such a visitmusthave developed? While 
many remained to attend the evening meeting, and to visit 
for a few days, friends and early homes, very many, charac- 
teristic of American life, exchanged the hasty farewell, and 
were off to distant liomes, to mingle again in the busy 
scenes of life. 

EVENING MEETING. 

At seven o'clock, the old bell that had in " olden time," 
summoned to religious duty, pealed forth its familiar tones 
announcing the time for the final meeting ot the daA-. 

Soon the Presbyterian church was filled to overflowing ; 
on motion of Victory J. Birdsej^e, Dr. Richard F. Stevens 
was appointed chairman, who upon assuming the duties of 
his position, made appropriate remarks, as follows : — 

Ladies and Gentlemen : — I thank you for the partiality 
shown in calling me to preside at this the last meeting of this 
most interesting re-union occasion. I am reminded by these 
sacred walls of times long gone by of childhood days, when 
here I was taught the words of Holy Writ in Sunday lessons, 
and my eye rests upon the family pew where I sat with my 
parents more than fifty years ago, and listened to religious 
teachings from the pulpit. I see before me, men and 
women who were children with me, whose heads are already 
silvered, and whose changed appearance tells its fruitful story 
of many years. I see also before me those who were the 
active men and women of those early days, now full of years, 
and bent with age. It would much more comport with my 
feelings to remain silent, when I remember that on the spot 
Avhere I now stand I have seen deposited, on funeral occa- 
sions, the encofiined remains of my parents and many dear 
friends and neighbors who rest in the quiet old burying- 
ground on the hill. I see at my right ny former school 



THE POMPEY EE-UNION. 99 

teacher, Mr. Asa H. Wells, and in yonder pew, I see Mrs. 
Beardsley, formerly Mi.ss Charlotte Hopkins, who taught me 
ray A. B. C's. The house adjoining this church, was my 
birth-place, and in this immediate localit}^, many who now 
listen to my words, ran and played with me in all the joyous 
sports and pleasures of childhood's happy days. To one re- 
turning after so many years, everything that remains is vocal 
with reminiscences of early days, the churches, the houses, 
the village-green, the shade trees I helped to plant, now a 
foot in diameter, the gardens, the apple-trees, everything 
however small, has its history of some childhood event. 

I cannot express the gratification I feel in being permitted 
to enjoy with you this re-union of so many of our former 
friends and neighbors as have been assembled here to-day. 
From all parts of our country the descendants of the old 
town of Pompc}' have come to meet and revive recollections, 
to shake the friendly hand like brothers and sisters in a com- 
mon family, to call each other by familiar names, to tell of 
the passing events of life, and, as the hours of the re-union 
draw to a close, to give the parting aud affectionate " good- 
bye." 

"We have met this evening to listen to those who may be 
pleased to give us such reminiscences as will be most inter- 
esting to us all. 

It is to be regretted, that no stenographic reporter was 
secured for the evening meeting, and therefore, no full re- 
port of the proceedings has been preserved. Historical 
reminiscences, and interesting remarks were made, in their 
order by the following persons : Rev. Samuel W. Brace, of 
Utica ; Rev. Charles Jerome, of Clinton, Oneida Co., since 
deceased; Victory J. Birdseye, and Wm. W. YanBrocklin, 
of Pompey ; Leman B. Pitcher, of Salina ; Ebenezer Butler, 
of Syracuse, since removed to Whitehall, N. Y, ; Dea. Asa 
H. Wells, of Pompey, since removed to Manlius ; Hon. Wm. 
Barnes, of Albanj', and Hon. Daniel G. Fort, of Oswego. 

An original poem was read by Flora Butterfield, daughter 



100 TlIK rOMTKY RE-UNIOX. 

of Mrs. Catharine Clarke Buttertield, a cousin of Grace Green- 
wood. Miss Flora was only thirteen years of aije at the 
time of the re-union, and her production, not designed for 
rehearsal or publication, is here produced without correc- 
tion: 

TO OUR GUESTS FROM ABROAP. 

1?Y FLOUA r.UTTKUVir.Ln. 

The oUl rosidonts of Toinpoy have horo asiaiii twot. 

That your oUl nativo land you luight not. forget ; 

To renew old aequaintanee with the few that are luMi> 

That you hold to your hearts, by memories dear. 

There's but few that are left where in ehildhood you played. 

To w eleome you l\ome from the lands where you've strayed ; 

l>ut your weleome is warm, as we all ean ]n-oelaim. 

For ioni: years it will be 'ere you all meet again. 

Alas : what sad memories this day brings to some. 

As fresh to your minds eome the days past and gone! 

AVhen ehildren, you played 'round this dear old Hill 

With kind friends you loved, who in death are now still. 

As you iraze ouee again on eaeh familiar spot, 
How they rush to your mind, scenes long sinee forgot : 
And a sadness steals o'er you as of the past you tell. 
And you turn onee ag-ain to take a farewell ! 

Yes. farewell I 'till we meet above 

In a blest re-union of peaee and love I 

AVhere no ties will be broken, i'ov all will be there. 

And hapinness forever, free from all eare. 

UKMAKKS OF HON. WILLIAM BARNES. 

Mr. Chainuan : — 

Interostod 1 have boon, and dcoply. in the many 
narratives of early events and incidents in the settlement of 
this town, which 1 have heard this cvcniiii:-. These stories 
from eye-Avitnesses and participants caitnot long he enjoyed 
by any of us, as the tottering steps and white hairs of some 
of the speakers too plainly indicate. 1 grieve that my be- 
loved father, (^the late Orson r>arnes,) personally known to 
many of von. is not with us this evening in body as I know 
he is in spirit, for ho could add many items interesting to 



THE rOMTEY llE-UNION. 101 

you all, relating to the oi'igiuiil settlors, their trials, priva- 
tions and triiiniphs. 

During my term of oftice as Superintendent of the Insur- 
anee Department of this State, I notieed one New York 
City Fire Insurance Company, the annual statements and 
accounts of which were always marked with es|)ecial full- 
ness and accuracy. Analyzed however critically, and suh- 
jected to any accountant's rules or legal tests, everything 
was found to he sound and correct. 

Its stockholdi'rs numhered on its roll several of the rich- 
est and most intluential men of New York City. From 
year to year certain delinquencies required more full returns 
from the Companies, and detailed lists of ])ond and mort- 
gage securities of stock loans, lists of stockholders, and other 
requirements; which additional and speciiic requirements 
met with serious, determined, and even personal opposition 
on the part of several Companies. 

I always anticipated that the Fire Insurance Company to 
which I allude would interpose the strongest ohjections to 
these new and onerous requirements, but I was always dis- 
appointed in my expectations, for every new blank form 
which was presented to the New York Bowery Fire Insur- 
ance Company, however full, or complicated, or onerous, 
was promptly filled u}) and sworn to, and generally the first 
return on file made by any of the Insurance Companies, 

For ten years this iact was a matter of wonder and aston- 
islimcnt to me, and it is only to-day that T have had a satis- 
factory explanation, by learning tluit its respected President, 
Dr. William nil)bard, was born in the town of Pompey, 
and belonged to the "Ilibbard" family of Pompey Hill. 

''' The above are all that have been preserved of the even- 
ing meeting. 

The following resolutions were adopted, when the even- 
ing meeting adjourned : — 

Resolved, By the guests at Pompey from abroad, that we 



102 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

tender to the citizens of Pompey our earnest and sincere 
thanks for tlie magnificent entertainment which we have to- 
day cnjoj'ed, and for the ample provisions made, and the 
arduous and well directed efforts used to make our re-union 
pleasant and agreeable to all. 

Resolved, That our thanks are especially due to the Com- 
mittee of Arrangements and Officers of the Day — their wise 
and admirable conception of the necessities of the occasion, 
in providing for the immense multitude of visitors, with 
wants so numerous, and for the good order manifest in ev- 
ery department of the day's doings. 

Hesolved, That we most cordially tender our thanks to 
the Orators, Singers and Musicians of the Day, for the pleas- 
ing and instructive speeches to whicli we have listened, and 
for the songs and music which have attuned our hearts in 
unison, to appreciate the sublime and transcendently glo- 
rious spectacle to-da}^ witnessed, of a re-union on earth of 
the sons and daughters of Pompey. 

OF THE INCIDENTS OF THE DAY. 

I^umerous incidents occurred during the day, to mention 
all of which would fill a volume. A few only will be relat- 
ed, as illustrating the spirit that pervaded the entire assem- 
bly. The greetings of long absent friends were interesting 
to witness, and that none should be slighted, the friendly 
hand was extended to all. A gentleman of some sixty sum- 
mers, met a lady of about the same age who had been his 
schoolmate of fifty years ago; after recognition and a cor- 
dial greeting, unbidden he extended his hand to a lady in 
company with his former schoolmate, "and this," said he, 
"is?" " My daughter," responded the lady," "and this is 
her husband." And extending the friendly hand to still 
another lady, he said "and this is another daughter?" "O,. 
no; that is my grand-daughter, and this is her husband." 
Then as the obtrusive tear filled his eye, he turned to his 
schoolmate, on whom the rolling years had apparently made 
but little impression, and said "truly, Mary, we must be 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 103 

growing old, and yet to-day I feel as though I were a child 
again."' 

Again, at various points might be seen groups of friend^?' 
and acquaintances, long separated, calling up the incidents 
of early days, and occasionally might be heard a brief 
speech. Lloyd Slade, of Kelloggsville, IST. Y., in the full- 
ness of his heart was constrained to speak substantially as 
follows to a group of friends : — " I was not born in Pompey, 
but like man}' fortunate sons of other towMis, I married a 
wife from the fair daughters of Pompey, wdio is now pres- 
ent, and whose father, Willoby Millard, was one of the 
Board of Education in 1800, and who did much to erect the 
first Academy building and establish the Pompey Academy. 
As to-day it is customary to pusli personalities to the front, 
I would say of myself that I taught school thirty winters^, 
and one of them in Pompey, as many present will remem- 
ber. From among m^- scholars in that humble school, have' 
arisen self-made men — as successful iinanciers and noble 
philanthropists as ever honored a nation. I refer to Hon. 
Wm. G. Fargo and his brothers. Kow, my hearers, this is- 
probably the last re-union of the present sons and daughters 
of Pompey that we shall ever enjoy on earth ; but let ns lay 
aside mourning and sadness, and with an eye of faith be- 
liold the resurrection morn; when the re-union of cherished 
ones departed and those journeying with us, will occur at 
our Celestial Home, wdierc pleasures never end, and joys 
immortal bloom.*' 

Another indication of the universal interest in the occa- 
sion, was the rehearsal by Homer A. Billings, to some of his 
companions of the following poem: 

POMPEY, THE LAND OF THE BRAYE AND THE 
HOME OF THE FREE. 

Hurrah for old Pompey ! tlie land of the free, 
I think that you still are the right place for me, 
Within thy fair borders I chanced to be born, 
To own thee my birth-place, I never shall scorn. 
To sing of thy beauties — my theme it shall be 
Hurrah for Old Pompey, the land of the free. 



104 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

Our scenery's delightful, our climate is healthy, 
Our wants are but few, our farmers are wealthy ; 
The heighth of our land makes i;s know well our station, 
(Since we know that " High standing's the pride of our Nation) 
For reasons like these, you're the land still for me. 
Hurrah, &c. 

We're a free happy people, contented we are, 
In haps and misfortunes, we never despair. 
Our government's mild, and wholesome our rules. 
Interested we are in our Common Schools, 
Oh ! Yes, I will say, you're the land still for me. 
Hurrah, &c., 

'Thy name, old Pompey, oft' puts me in mind 
'Of the great Roman general, in hist'ry we find, 

Who lived in the days of " Ca}sar the great," 

That noted old Emp'ror and great potentate, 

AVe all trust thy downfall never Avill Vje. 
Hurrah, &c.. 

How oft' have I traveled thy fair meadows o'er, 
Where the wild beasts and savage had traveled before ; 
How oft', o'er thy valleys and landscapes I've gazed 
AVith fancies bewildered, confounded, amazed, 
Old Pompey I thy landscapes are dear unto me. 
Hurah, &c., 

My own native Home — in the Cot on the hill, 
The place of my birth ! Oh ! it gives such a thril 
Of joy and sensation I I cannot forget 
The little Log Cottage— I honor it yet, 

AVhen long years have pass'd — still rtniemljer'd 'twill bf — 
Hurrah, &c., 

Oh ! Home of my birth ! will it e'er be my lot 
To find in this world, so endearing a spot ? 
How true is the saying — that "search the whole earth 
No spot's so endeared, as the home of one's birth," 
In life's last decline, I shall oft think of thee. 
Hurrah, &c., 

May this meeting, to-day, and these social communions 

Be but a prelude to future re-unions — 

And may this re-union, of Friendship and Love 

Foreshadow a blissful re-union above, 

Where " Forever and ever," re-united we'll be 

And from sin and temptation, and sorrow set free. 

But adieu ! for these days will not last long with me. 
For in other lands soon, perchance I may be, 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 105 

But of this I am sure—" wherever I dwell, 
Of the scenery of Pompey to others I'll tell — 
Yea, tell it with pleasure, with joy and with glee, 
As the Home of the Brave, and the land of the free. 



LETTERS. 

The following are among the many letters received by 
the Recording Secretary : 

Brooklyn, 20th June, 1874. 
R. F. Stevens, Esq., Sec'y, ^c. 

Dear Sir: — I regret very much that I shall not be able to 
attend the re-union of the former residents of the town of 
Pompey, which is to take place on the 29th inst., as I sail on 
to-morrow's steamer, for Europe. 

It would give me great pleasure could I be with you on 
that occasion, and thus meet many of those whom it has 
been my good fortune to know personally, as well as many 
others, whom I have known only by reputation. Should the 
former residents of Pompey, generally avail themselves of 
this opportunity for visiting their native hills, you will have 
a gathering of which you may well be proud, for you will 
lind there assembled, many who are eminent in the various 
walks of lile. The pulpit, the bar and the bench, the Leg- 
islative Hall, and the business Exchange, the official rolls 
of civil and of military life, each can show distinguished rep- 
resentatives of the old town of Pompey, while many others 
of her sons, to fame unknown, have Avell performed their 
part in life by the honest and successful discharge of the 
duties pertaining to the various positions in which Provi- 
dence has placed them, and I repeat that it would be a great 
pleasure to me could I be present to witness the return of 
these wanderers to the scenes of their childhood, and to listen 
to the eloquence of the heart which such a gathering will 
be sure to inspire. Trusting that you may have a full at- 
tendance, I am, 

Yours, very truly, 

Edwin C. LiTcnriELD. 



106 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

Brooklyn, K Y., June 2Gth, 1871. 
Richard F. Stevens, Esq. 

Dear Sir : — I wrote you some clays since in reph' to your 
kind invitation of June 1st, saying that I should endeavor 
to be present at the re-union of the former residents ofPom- 
pey; I regret no\v to inform you that the illness of a mem- 
ber of my family will deprive me of the anticipated pleasure. 

As a former resident of " The Hollow," it grieves me to 
think that this important meeting, and one which will proba- 
bly be the most pleasant and longest remembered of any of 
the assemblages ever held in our native town should beheld 
on " the Hill." I can recall to mind a time when every 
man in Delphi would have " died in the last ditch," rather 
than to allow such an eventto take place. We should have 
contended that Delphi was entitled to the honor, but lor the 
sake of harmony we might have compromised on Green's 
Corners. Now, 1 suppose from your high stand-point, poor 
old Delphi will be entirely over-looked, and little will he 
heard at your re-union, except in glorification of " The Hill,'' 
its great eminence, its bracing breezes, its time-honored 
Academy, and the great and good men and women it has 
sent forth. 

The fact that Delphi quietly submits to all this, convinces 
me that the old village has greatly changed since the days 
when we demanded for the Hollow its fair share of all the 
town offices, down even tc the sealer of weights and meas- 
ures, and would under no circumstances consent to the hold- 
ing of a town meeting at any point west of the Corners. 
The Hollow must have been "re-constructed" since my day, 
or this re-union would not have been held on the hill with- 
out a terrible struggle. However, if Delphi can stand it, I 
can, audi sincerely hope all your pleasant anticipations con- 
nected with this meetmg will be realized, and that the re- 
union will result in renewing and strengthening the attach- 
ments of all present to our noble old town. 

Very Truly^^Yours, 

" H. AV. Slocum. 




.^y^rsf''/^. 



i 



\ 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 107 

Prattsburgh, June 23d, 1871. 

Mr. Richard F. Stevens. 

Sir : — I have just received your circular inviting me to a re- 
union at Pompey Hill, on the 29th inst., I regret that cir- 
cumstances will prevent my attendance. Age alone would 
reader it difficult, as I was 86 years old in April last. It 
would be extremel}' gratifying to have an interview with 
many friends who may be there present. In addition to the 
associations of a former residence, it may be said, that the 
place has a most salubrious air, and is richly worth a visit for 
a view of its far-stretching landscape. Memory recalls the 
list of strong men who have resided there; and from time 
to time have officiated in our National and State councils. 
On this topic, the limits prescribed to this note forbid my 
expatiating. As I cannot be a participant in the approach- 
ing 

" Foast of reason and tho flow of soul," 

I must content myself with the hope that we may all finally 
meet in that higher and better world where our re-uuion 
will be perpetual, and our happiness without alloy. 
I am, very respectfully Yours, 

R. S. Orvis. 



Syracuse, June 19, 1871. 
Dr. R. F. Stevens. 

Dear Sir: — An invitation to attend a re-union of the old 
residents of Pompey came to me a few days since — A '" re- 
union of the old residents of Pompey !" I read that sentence 
with many a heartfelt throb, for 

" They are not all here 

Some are away 
The dead ones dear I" 

From off my family altar nearly every flower hath withered, 
faded and died. Gone from us in early life ! But one (and 
he far away in a western home,) is left me of my once joy- 
ous home-circle. Oh I not for me is that ro-unioh I Too 



108 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

many sad memories of the past cluster around that dear old 
" hill-side home." 

The grass hath grown green and long upon the eloquent 
dumb mounds, where sleep my dead ! Can I go up to the 
re-union ? There will be the school-mates of my girlhood. 
The teachers I both loved and feared m childhood. The 
friends of later years, my father's and my mother's friends. 
All will be there ! Shall I too go ? Yes ! I will take the dear 
ones " God hath given me," and climb those hills "sublime 
and glorious still," Up! up! to the "re-union," and for one 
day I will strive to prove in social greetings that " clouds 
have their silver linings," and after storms, comes ever the 
bright sunshine. 

Yours, in hopes of a blessed re-union, " Up Higher," 

Esther A. Clapp Dorwin. 



Syracuse, July, 1871. 
Dr. Ji. F. Stcxens. 

Dear Sik: — For us the "glorious re-union at old Pompey" 
hath come and gone, but the memory of that day can never 
pass away — with us it Mveth forever! Like the sunny 
dreams of childhood, its memory will brighten our future 
pilgrimage down the shady slope of life ; it revived old 
memories long since dead; it taught us, though we had 
years ago learned, that life was "real and earnest," that 
there was still left for us much of love, of poetry and senti- 
ment. 

There old friends, and perchance old lovers met, and as 
they grasped the hand the " light of other days" beamed 
from the eye, and the eager " God bless you ! are you here?" 
was not a studied expression, but an outburst from the abun- 
dance of the heart. What if the brown hair of the one was 
threaded with silver, and the jetty locks of the other grown 
thin and grey? What if the voice once so musical had ac- 
quired, by contact with the world, a harsh note, and the 
bright eye become less bright? Did we note these changes? 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 109 

Ah, no! the heart was young again, and the expressions "I 
know you ! how little you have changed !" were heartfelt, 
no matter if our mirrors at home told a different tale, and 
after this, how proud we were to say to such a friend, "this 
is my son," as we presented our noble, stalwart boy, or, this 
my daughter, as we led up our girl, just blushing into 
womanhood. 

Proud cmy for ancient Pompey ! Proud day for fathers 
and mothers ! for young and old — proud day for all ! And 
yet with all the pride and joy of the occasion, there were 
sad hearts there, hearts desolate of love ; hearts which amid 
all these fond greetings continually cried out ''where is my 
father, my mother, brother or sister?" Kindred and friends 
were around them, but those loved first and best, were gone. 
A green spot in the church yard answered the wailing heart, 
gone home ! Safely housed from wind and storm ! A fam- 
ily around the Great White Throne ! Would you wish them 
back to-day ? 

You, my friend, visited the home of your fathers; I went 
to mine beneath the hills, the home of my grand-sire, my 
father, and the home where my childhood flitted by. Thirty- 
five years ago its halls echoed to the tread of fond parents, 
and the tiny feet of children. There the treble of my fair 
haired foster sister, the rich tenor of my gentle mother's 
voice, the second of my loved elder brother, my noble 
father's bass, with the accompaniment of cousin. Charlie's 
viol, floated at eventide among the hills, while Willie and 
" Sis" and I frolicked upon the grass or climbed the stately 
Balm of Gilead at our door. Now what a change ! The 
echoing hails resound to the step of the sons and daughters 
of the "Emerald Isle," and our fathers, where are they ? 
The little red school house on the green still reared its head 
in humble pride, as in years gone by; it looked to me 
smaller than when I there stood up at spelling, and battled 
for the "head;" and, to, its sombre sides- had taken on a 
shade of brown; but as I looked at its high windows, out 
of -which I had slily peeped many a time, and its quaint old 



110 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

benches and desks, bearing many a mark of mischievous 
girls and boys, and saw my own name rudely cut w^ith the 
knife of one of my bo}' lovers, I knew it was the same dear 
old school house ; every bench and desk seemed to tell a 
tale of school girl's joys and sorrows, of school mates and 
masters gone ; for 

" None were there to greet me now, 
And few were left to know, ^ 

That played with me upon the green 
Full forty years ago." 

There, to, stood the old elm tree upon the corner; though 
shorn of much of its original beauty and grandeur, it still 
spread its gnarled branches far and wide, showing how 
nobly it had braved the fury of "Old Pompey's" winds for 
centuries. Beneath its cool shades I remember sleeping, 
and dreaming such dreams as come to us but once, and that 
in our sinless, happy childhood. I remember standing on 
tip-toe and spelling out the bills which told of the wonder- 
ful things to be found in the city of salt, for the old tree 
was used as a bulletin board in those days by the agents of 
the merchants of the infant city of Syracuse. 

The ancient Columbia Poplars too, were there near by ; 
which seventy years ago shaded the house of my grand-father. 

liow familiar they looked, tall and straight, their dark 
leaves whispering as they did years ago. Many a whip I 
have cut from their leafy sides, with which to urge on my 
"Arabian Steeds," which so often in those days bore me "o'er 
the hills and far away !" 

But do you know Doctor, how sadly I missed the dear old 
country church ? How desolate the green looked without 
it ? for it had been borne away, as a store house, for a thrif- 
ty farmer; vrho instead of "pulling down the old and 
buildino" greater" chose rather to take the old cJnirch, with 
its ample dimensions ; and now in place of the voice of prayer. 
we daily hear the cooiiig of doues from its high dome. Fond- 
ly and tenderly, do I remember the church of my early love ; 
when Jirst my infant lips learned to join in the Response the 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION, 111 

devout Litamj and prayer. There, too, when but a child I 
took the solemn vows of confirmation ; promisini^ to love 
God and keep my spirit " free from earth-taint." Still do I 
feel the kindly pressure of the good Bishop's hands upon my 
head ; and hear the accents of his gentle voice ; 

"> When he spoke, what tender words he nsed, 
So softly that Uke flakes of feathered snow 
They melted as they fell." 

I was but a lis-ht-hearted child then of tliirteen, and Ions: 
years have passed since the echo of that good man's voice 
died away in that dim old country church ; and he with 
many of my loved ones " rests from his laborc." 

Ah ! Dr. it is good for us to live over the past, as we did 
on that never to be forgotten day! We shall ever look 
back upon it as a " bright green spot in the desert sands of 
life!'' We will remember it ever, and teach our children to 
echo the cry which daily goes up from our hearts. Thank 
God for the Ee-union. 

Yours, very Truly, 

Esther A. Clapp Dorwin. 



Mantorville, Minn., June 23d, 1871. 
Dr. R. F. Stevens : — 

Your favor, inviting us to attend a re-union of the former 
residents of the old town of Pompey, has been received, and 
has awakened many thoughts of the "Auld Lang Syne." 
Again and again, through all the " halls of memory," have 
been stirred anew the long-slumbering echoes of the past. 
Half forgotten forms have reappeared with sharper outlines 
and more than usual distinctness, claiming former apprecia- 
tion. Few things would be more gratifying to us than to 
meet and greet once more the many surviving friends of 
"long ago" on the grand old hills of Pompey; but growing 
infirmities, a long and wearisome journey, with other rea- 
sons, will compel us to forego the pleasure. But we shall 
be with you in spirit and measurably share the festive joy ol 



112 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

your gathering. And should any there still kindly remem- 
ber " Jared" ami " Miss Rowena," and enquire of our well- 
fare and whereabouts, please tell them that we now hail from 
the "Land of the Dakotas" just over the eastern line of 
what we here call the "West," alia<i Minnesota; and like 
many who were young when we left our native hills, are far 
in the " sear and yellow leaf." Our lot has been cast among 
the Pioneers of the West. Left the " Hills" when the first 
railroad pointing westward was being built, from Utica to 
Auburn. Found Milwaukie a small village. Preached the 
first sermon ever preached in Madison, the Capitol of Wis- 
consin, standing behind a dry goods box covered with an 
Indian blanket, in the upper story of a store, the best meet- 
ing house the place could afford. Now it is a beautiful and 
proud city, full of churches and elegant public buildings, 
and the whole country, a few years since the home of a few 
filthy Pottawatomies, Menominies and Winnebagoes, now 
blossoms out with cities, villages, and homes of culture and 
refinement. The Indian trails, once the only guide to the 
Wisconsin pioneer, have given place to a net-work of rail- 
roads, which bear along their iron traccways the burden of 
a great and growing commerce. All these changes have 
we witnessed within the last thirt^'-five years. The last 
five years have been spent in Minnesota. This State, 
twent}^ years ago, had but a few hundred inhabitants. Now 
her population of half a million can take excursions on a 
thousand miles of her railroads; and as they witness the 
rapid movements in building the N". P. Railroad, some fancy 
they can almost hear the thunder of the iron horses from 
Pnget Sound, as they rush over the mountains, bringing 
the commerce of China with them, and gathering up, as they 
course the great Plains, the products of a thousand indus- 
tries already being opened up from a territory large enough 
to make twelve or fifteen States as large and as good as New 
York. 

Our three score years and ten are nearly filled; but with 
such a western experience, and such an outlook still west ward. 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 113 

our old friends will not think hard of ns if we express a will- 
ingness to live a few years longer to see wliat we may see in 
the West. 

I can but think your gathering will make a proud day for 
Pompey, and that you will realize, as never before, that your 
town has furnished her fall average of notables, and that the 
old Academy, and olden churches, (however imperfect in 
their workings,) have had much to do in moulding the char- 
acter and in shaping the destiny of those that meet in your 
union. 

Could I have the pleasure of meeting the multitude that 
will gather at your union, and hear recalled the names of 
others that have passed behind the vail, I would gladly re- 
call the memory of one, now perhaps half forgohten by the 
older inhabitants, and entirely unknown to the new. I re- 
fer to Theodore E. Clarke. His life was scarcel}- considered 
a success, even by his best friends. His powers were too 
restive to be curbed down to those pursuits necessary to give 
success. But among the long list of gifted minds Pompey 
has produced, I have long regarded Theodore's as the tallest 
of them all. For pure intellection, for logical acumen, for 
profound abstract thought, for far-reaching and compre- 
hensive views, for bold excursions into the unknown in 
search of hypothesis to explain known facts, he probably 
liad few equals in this or any other country — in this or any 
other age. But he passed away in middle life, comparative- 
ly unknown, and has gone where thinking is a business and 
profound logic appreciated. 

Through you Ave would send our kindest greetings to old 
friends, hoping that the renewal of old acquaintances — the 
stirring memories that will be awakened there — the lessons 
of instruction that will be suggested by the occasion — will 
better qualify for a grander, nobler and enduring re-union 
beyond the Biccr. 

We hope to meet you on the other shore. 
Yours, in memory of past, 

Jared F. Ostrandee. 



114 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

Mantorville, Minn., Aug. 29th, 1871. 
Dr. R. F. Stevens. 

Dear Sir : — Your request for a few items from my pen 
shall be cordially complied with. The grand gathering of 
the scattered sons and daughters of Ponipey, on the 29th of 
June, is an era in the history of that place. The friendly 
meetings and greetings of those who came hack to the homes 
of " other days" — the reminiscences awakened — the long- 
past brought back with its memories of sadness and of glad- 
ness — all conspire to invest the day with an interest which 
will live when other days are forgotten. Thanks for the 
papers sent, giving an account of the doings and sayings of 
that da}^, that grand event, in which it was my misfortune 
not to participate, has, ncvertlieless, more than any other of 
my life, stirred up memories of the past, brightened up 
scenes of my childhood and youth, until they seem but a 
little ways back in the dim distance, although my three 
score and ten years are nearly told. The schools of Pompe}' 
Hill are among my earliest recollections. The one taught 
in the school house, near D. Kellogg's residence, I attended 
and remember — the teacher, I think, was Leman Pitcher. 
The house was used for meetings on the Sabbath, and the 
Rev. Mr. "Wallace was the minister. The desk used as a 
pulpit was sometimes, also, used to shut up naughty scholars 
in. One day Hugh Wallace, tlie minister's son, was sent 
there for some misdemeanor, and after looking around to 
view the situation, exclaimed : " I don't want to be shut up 
in father's pig pen." After my father removed to his 
'■'• wilderness home," half a mile east of the Academy, it was 
my lot, with sister Chloe, to go to school through the woods 
by marked trees, with only a faint foot-path that led to the 
hill. One morning, as we were leisurely wending our way 
to school with our dinner bag and books, we heard a terri- 
ble crash in the bushes near us. We halted, and on turning 
around saw a big black animal near the path, sitting on his 
haunches and looking at us. As we had not been fright- 
ened with stories of bears, we had no fears. We stood 



THE POMPEY P.E-UNION. 115 

facing- the animal and wondering what it might be, until 
Bruin, not being in want of a breakflist, or taking pity on 
us poor, unprotected children, walked majestically away, 
leaving us to pursue our course. On telling of our advent- 
ure to the scholars, and they to the teacher, quite an excite- 
ment was produced; and our return home after school was 
guarded by two or three big boys, around the road, nearly 
a mile and a half. We were not allowed to tread that path 
alone again. 

You ask me to say something of the schools I taught. 
My first attempt at teaching was in the chamber of your 
father's house. You probably recollect it, for there you 
learned your "A, Be, Abs." Mrs. Miller, in her address!^ al- 
luded to that school, though I thiidc she must have been too 
young to have been a pupil. It was forty-eight years ao-o 
this summer. I remember the circumstance to which she 
alluded. It occurred in this wise: Her sister Ellen was 
v^^anting a " copy set," as we then termed it, and I was 
obliged, while writing, to turn my back to the school. It 
has always been my impression that it was James Beebe, a 
cousin of Mrs. M.'s, who called out—" Miss Kowena, mayn't 
David (not Dan.) Porter turn his face this way ?" Without 
stopping writing, I said : " Yes, David, turn arouiul." " I 
don't want to," said he, "for James wants to spit in my 
face." By this time I was ready to attend to matters. One 
of the Birdseye boys, (Eben,) in that same school, was, one 
day, for playing truant, compelled to stand in the middle of 
the room and study his lesson. This he did with unusual 
energy and application. Looking off his book, he said : 
" Miss Rowena, do bears have chickens ?" This called out 
a burst of laughter from teacher and pupils, and he was sent 
to his seat without any new light on the subject of natural 
history. 

This school was succeeded by one taught the next Sum- 
mer, in the house near the Academy; then occupied by 
David I-Iines. After that I taught five terms in the School- 
house then standing near the spot now occupied by the new 



116 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

church. The path of Rfe has led me far away from those 
scenes of labor, and of interest; hut I have ever looked back 
to them as among the pleasantest of my life ; and with ver}' 
kindly feelings towards all those who were my pupils. 
Among them I saw the names of ten or more, who were to 
be present at the gathering on the Hill, and I felt an honest 
pride in the thought, that perhaps my feeble endeavors were 
not all lost. It has always given me pleasure to hear of the 
welfare of my pupils, and have ever sorrowed with them, 
when hearing of their afflictions. I have ever regretted that 
in my occasional visits to the home of my early life, I met 
so few of them. They were scattered here and there, and 
some were sleeping their last sleep. On a visit to the ceme- 
tery in Pompey, sixteen years ago, I counted sixteen stones 
erected to the memory of those who were my pupils. In 
other lands some have found their last resting-place, and 
perhaps some repose on the battle-fields of our late distract- 
ed and bleeding country. I regret that Grace Greenwood 
was i*iOt with you in the re-union, to add to the interest with 
her poetical talent. She, too, learned from me her alphabet, 
and " a, be, abs." A few years ago, I received a letter from 
her with a graceful acknowledgement of my endeavors to 
instil into her young mind the first rudiments of knowledge, 
and start her on her literary career. I do not forget among 
my hundreds of pupils, the three brothers, William, Charles 
and Richard Stevens, who were some of the first on whom 
to try my hand at teaching. Especially the latter, a feeble 
little boy, who had so much of my sympathy, that he was 
left to "run loose,"' and awakened the envy of the others for 

my partiality. 

Yours, Respectfully, 

ROWENA M. OSTRANDER. 



Perhaps you will deem me intrusive, but I will venture 
to make a few more suggestions ; altho' others may do the 
same. You may cast mine aside, if so, as though they were 
not made. Pompey, will after this, gain a new celebrity. 



THE POMPEY REUNION. 



117 



Perhaixs very few dreamed of the great wealth of intellect 
and int^uence, that has gone out from that town, to enrich 
the world. Besides the notables mentioned in connection 
with the grand re-nnion, there are others, who are entitled 
to a remembrance, among the great and good of Pompev's 
sons and danghters. They are found in all the professions, 
m all the walks of usefulness. Many* are the ministers of 
the gospel of peace, who have gone, here and there, some 
to the privations and hardships of our western land and 
some to carrv the gospel to the heathen. Two, certainly 
were Pompey's children. Artemas Bishop, who, some now 
iving, will remember, left the grand old hills, and the 
home of his childhood and youth, to preach -Jesus and the 
i-esurrection,- to the flir-otf islands of the sea. It was I 
think, in 1821, he sailed from Boston for the Sandwich Isl- 
ands. Mrs. .Julia A. (Ostrandcr) Crane, sailed from the 
^amc port, in 1836, as a missionary to the benighted Hin- 
doos The year before, (1835.) Mrs. Theresa Patten Howard 
left her home and friends, to labor as a missionary in Bur- 
mail. *^ 

Among the earlier teachers in Pompey, who deserve a 
passing notice, at least, were the Kev. Eli Burchard J J 
Demnig, and Miss L^pham. Among the manv names that 
will pass into oblivion, I would snatch two which mi^ht 
have been ennobled upon the annals of literary fame had 
not death interposed. Almira Campbell and Adelaide Delia 
Clarke, sister to Grace Greenwood. But few ever knew of 
the wealth of intellect hidden away in these young minds 
I possess a few poems of the former, written between the 
ages of fourteen and twenty, which show more than ordina- 
ry perception of the beautiful and the true, even in older 
persons: and her letters, a maturity of thought and judo-. 
nient far above her years. I cannot forbear quoting from 
her obituary notice written by Seabred Dodge, for the On- 
ondaga Journal. '^ She was a young lady of distinguished 
accomplishments and virtues. She possessed a miml well 

-Perhaps, I am mistaken iji the many. 



118 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

stored with useful knowledge. She courted not the society 
of the gay and thoughtless ; unassuming in her manners, 
she made no pompous display of her mind, conscious that 
the great and majestic river makes its way in silence to the 
ocean ; it is the little rill that froths and frets as it rolls. "As 
pure her life, its close as calm, as bright, as moonbeams 
radiant with their softest light ; as whispering winds or 
shades which twilight throws, peaceful she sunk, in nature's 
last repose." She died in 1823, in the twenty-third year of 
her age. 

E. M. OSTRANDER. 



3Ir. Richard F. Stevens, Cor. Sec'y of the '■^ Re-union at Home,'" 
and Gentlemen, coymnittee of invitation. 

Sirs : — "When silent time wee lightly foot had trod on 
thirty years," I find myself honored by an invitation from 
you to join with the friends of other days in a social and 
friendly re-union to be held at Pompey Hill on the 29th inst. 

Gentlemen, I should be very glad to be able to mingle 
with you on that day ; but I regret to say that the sore afflic- 
tion of inflamatory rheumatism forbids my attendance, and 
I fear that I shall be doomed to my chamber. However, I 
shall be with you in spirit, and in fancy shall enjoy the re- 
fining pleasures to be derived from the humanizing emana- 
tions that will flow from the poets, orators and large hearted, 
who will assemble together on the appointed day to join in 
the mutual and agreeable essay of reviving the jo^-s and 
pleasures of Auld Lang Syne. 

Praying that pleasant weather and all things auspicious 

may be vouchsafed to you all, I am fraternally yours, 

&c., &c. 

Sanford Thayer. 

Syracuse, June 26, 1871. 



Burlington, Iowa, June 1(3, 1871. 

My Dear Sir : — 

Your favor of the 12th instant, enclosing an invitation to 



THE rOMPEY RE-UNION. 119 

the Pompey rc-union on the 29tli, is just received. It would 
afford me the highest irratiiication to join in that jubilee, but 
other engagements will probably prevent. But in com- 
pliance vrithyour alternative request, I take occasion to ex- 
press some of the reflections and reminiscences whicli the 
occasion elicits. 

It calls up the past with all of its hopes and anxieties and 
vicissitudes. The panorama of a life time stands unveiled 
before me ; I watch its dissolving views as they tollow each 
other in quick succession on the curtain of memory. The 
claild whose wondering gaze at first scanned the blue dome 
of Heaven, supposing it to shut down at equal distances on 
all sides of his humble house, and who hardly attempted to 
speculate as to what was beyond, changes in rapid gradation 
to the boy, the youth, the man — all the while enlarging the 
scope of hisknowledge, but finding the suggested unknown, 
to increase in perhaps still greater proportion, until with 
whitening locks he looks forward to the limitless future 
and i^backward to the equally limitless past, tind all around 
to the infinitudes of space, and forms perhaps just as inade- 
quate and erroneous notions as to what is beyond the scope 
of his enlarged but still narrow comprehension as had been 
those of any previous period. When I had mastered my 
first exercise in arithmetic, I was in my own estimation much 
nearer the ultima tlnde of mathematical knowledge than I 
have ever found myself since, and never did I feel myself so 
far from home as when I was first at Green's corners, though 
then but one mile distant from the paternal roof. 

How vivid are many of the thronging recollections of my 
school boy period. The noonday sport, so full of interest, 
and which was so suddenly interrupted, never to be resumed, 
by the inexorable summons from the lord of the school-room, 
was but an epitome of a human life. The voices of my young 
playmates seem almost still ringing in my ears, I watch the 
staid demeanor and listen to the grave conversation of our 
old puritan fathers, who have long since been succeeded by 



120 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

their sons and daugliters, and those again by a third genera- 
tion of men and women. 

Al-1 these seem but the occurrences of 3'esterda3', after a 
long and troubled dream from which it almost seems as 
though I was yet to awake and witness their repetition. 
And yet half a century has intervened between that time 
and the present. Forty such intervals placed consecutively 
backward, would reach beyond the Christian era, a hundred 
and twenty would ante date the creation according to the 
letter of the Mosaic history. But still, this whole time is 
not so very long. Do not the results of our own experience 
in this respect satisfy us that if Adam had lived till now, he 
might still have regarded his life as short, and that he would 
have looked back upon his days of primeval innocence and 
ignorance with regrets, perhaps more piognant but with 
feelings nearly akin to those called forth by the voices of 
our own memories? 

My earliest recollections of things outside of my own 
home neighborhood aie of the old Ponipey Academy. And 
ever since, its well remembered ding}^ and weather-worn 
■exterior has excited a veneration unequalled by that of any 
other structure. This is partly due to intrinsic causes, but 
none to the ettect of early associations. Its commanding 
position made it distinctly visible from the play-grounds of 
our district school house, which was situated ou a more 
humble but parallel ridge to the eastward; I well reii. ember 
with what feelings of awe it was always regarded by me in 
those earlier days, as something superior to tlie s]>hcre in 
which I was born and to which I seemed confined. I some- 
times attended " meeting" in its large upper hall, which 
was tireless in v.inter as well as in summer, and supposed 
that this was all the connection I should ever have with its 
venerable existence. I looked upon the students who were 
so fortunate as to enjo}' its full advantages as a privileged 
order, and could imagine no earthly condition which I 
should pride so highly as to become one of their happy 
number. 



I 



y(> 



^V 





THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 121 

My wishes in tins respect were destined in some degree 
to be gratified. A few weeks of mathematical instruction, 
under its most distinguished principal, Mr. Leonard, just at 
the close of his connection with that institution, was followed 
hy a longer period of both classical and scientific study, un- 
der his successor, Mr. Aikiu, and the supervision of the liev. 
Mr. Barrow. 

Brief as was the relation of instructor and pupil between 
Mr. Leonard and myself, it was sufficient to give me an ex- 
alted estimate, and a life-long recollection of his capabilities 
in that connection. I have never known a more lucid ex- 
positor of an abstruse subject, or one who would present any 
idea more clearly with the same number of words. He was 
the soul of the Academ}- and gave it most of its well-merited 
celebrity; and whenever memory calls up that institution 
from among the shadows of the past, prominent in the fore- 
ground, is the figure of Mr. Leonard, with his cane and 
spectacles and with his erect military bearing. 

Mr. Barrow was a gentlenuui of higli intelligence and 
culture, and manifested the greatest interest in the welfare 
of those u!Kler his charge. Jle gave a new direction to the 
current of my life by inducing me to change my intention 
of soon In'inging my ivcademical studies to a close, and to 
attem[)t by my unaided eftbrtslo acquire a full collegiate 
education. The usual recourse in such cases that of teach- 
ing school a portion of the year to su^iply the means of 
studying during the remainder was suggested and adopted. 

During my seasons of study I lived at home, walking 
every morningandjevening nearly three miles to and tVom the 
Academy. This instead of being a disadvantage, doubtless 
contributed not only to my health but also to my educa- 
tional progress. It gave mo the needful exercise without 
any loss of time. Li fact I always regarded this long walk 
as the most favorable opportunity for studying such subjects 
as did not involve the necessity of carrying a burden of 
books. The distance was passed over mechanically and al- 



■ 

122 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

most unconsciously with less to interrupt the intelk^ctual 
current than though I had been all the while seated at my 
desk. And ever since from force of habit or otherwise, 
whenever I have had an intricate and perplexing subject to 
untangle, I have resorted to walking as a means of render- 
ing my mind more active and less liable to confusion. 

Among the many pleasing recollections which cluster 
around the Pompey Academy, were the exhibitions (as they 
were called,) with which the students and the public were 
sometimes indulged. These I always anticipated with the 
liveliest interest, long before I was in a condition to become 
an actor therein. And if as a spectator I could obtain a po- 
sition where I could see and hear all that there took place, 
I was on one of the pinnacles of human happiness. 

The dramatic portions of the exercises on those occasions 
were most completely to my taste, and no theatrical exhi- 
bitions which I have ever witnessed since that time, when 
measured by the effect produced on my own mind, were 
superior to those there presented. Among the actors I par- 
ticularly remember Orange Butler, who would have made 
his mark as a comedian on an}- stage and before any au- 
dience, had he turned his chief attention and devoted his 
studies to his histrionic art. 

I have also a vivid recollection of the efl'ect produced on 
my young mind by Miss Charlotte Hopkins, now Mrs. 
Beardsley, as a vocalist on one of those occasions. I have 
since heard the voices of Jenny Lind, and Parepa Rosa and 
Miss Nilsson, with many others of wide celebrity, but the 
sensations produced by any of these were tame in compari- 
son with those which thrilled the soul of the rapt bo}' as he 
listened to the rich warblings of a strain from " the bards of 
Ayr," by Miss Hopkins. The echoes of that music have 
never yet wholly died away. 

Much of the effect in these cases was doubtless due to the 
recap! ivity of ni}' own youthful nature. The keenness of 
my moral and intellectual appetites had not been blunted by 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 123 

time or indulgence. Paucity of amusements caused a fuller 
api^reciation of those we were privileged to enjoy. But af- 
ter making full allowance for all these considerations, very 
much of the effect to which I liave alluded was doubtless 
due to the intrinsic excellence of what I tlien Avitnessed. 

In illustration of this idea, I will refer to another of the 
few amusements of that earl}^ period, I mean the general 
trainings which annually took place on Pompey Hill. One 
of the chief charms on those occasions was the ffinfferbread 
made by a baker name Xettleton, which was then sure to be 
awaiting our expectant shillings. Its ap[»reciated excellence 
was doubtless, partly due to a healthful appetite, which had 
then been rarely gratified and never pampered. But after 
making full allowance for this cause, no one whose memory 
extends back to those times, will ever question its intrinsic 
merits. Ncttleton's gingerbread was one of the beneficent 
institutions of that day. Its manufacture is one of the lost 
arts. Perhaps the world is never again to know the secret 
of its perfection. 

But there are other memories which the present occasion 
elicits, and to which I will briefly allude. Pompey Hill was 
then a village of no inconsiderable pretensions. It raised 
its head above its rural surroundings as high socially, as it 
stood geologically, and this pre-eminence was tacitly ac- 
knowledged by all the countr}^ people around. Thither they 
Avent for law, medicine and merchandise, thither they car- 
ried to market the products of their farms and of their han- 
diwork, and thither they wended their way annually to elec- 
tions, town meetings and general trainings, and on every 
Sunday to " meeting." 

My earliest recollections are of the large upper room in 
the old Academy, to which I have already alluded, as the 
most pretentions place of religious worship for the Presb}'- 
terians, who were then the most numerous and wealthy de- 
nomination. In the progress of improvement, a new church 
was built by them in a more central portion of the village,. 



124 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

and the Academy was occupied by the Baptists, who, after 
a few years, erected a building of their own. In the muta- 
tions to which all human afiairs are subject, this building 
has since passed into the occupanc}^ and ownership of the 
Roman Catholics. I was present when the erection of the 
steeple of the Presbyterian meeting house was completed, 
and saw a hair-brained man seat himself upon a three- 
pronged fork which was fixed by a socket upon the point of 
the spire. I turned away my eyes with a shudder, and when 
next I looked, he was coming down the spire head foremost 
like a squirrel. The bare thought of that transaction al- 
most makes my blood run cold to this day. 

I remember the time when most of our country people 
dwelt in log houses, and how I used to be impressed with 
the odor of aristocracy that seemed to surround the village 
habitations, all of which were of frame work, and most of 
them were even painted. The population of the town was 
considerably greater then than now, for all these log houses 
were crowded with children. The country had been chiefly 
settled by men in the prime of life, who had immigrated 
almost simultaneously, and purchased small farms averaging 
little if any more than one hundred acres each. David 
Green, owned three hundred and twenty acres, the two New- 
mans, John and Amos, had each about the same number. 
Conrad Bush had twice as many, but these were rare ex- 
ceptions. The consequence was that the whole country was 
densely populated at a very early da}-. The process which 
has since been going on has been that of unitiiyi farms in- 
stead of dicid'aig them. A considerable proportion of the 
country habitations have become tenantless, and have dis- 
appeared, in consequence of the emigration of their former 
occupants with their families, until the number of scholars 
in the district wherein I received my rudimentary educa- 
tion, is not now more than one-third, or perhaps one quar- 
ter of what it was when I was one of them ; and this diminu- 
tion would have been still much greater, but for the new 



■I 



THE POMPEY BE-UNION, 125 

element of Irish iiumigratiou which has filled in part the 
vacuum created bj the causes above mentioned. 

Away down the vista of the years that have forever fled, 
come visions of many more of the early inhabitants ofPom- 
pey, who have passed from this mortal stage, to many of 
whom I was connected by ties of respect and gratitude in 
consequence of the salutary influence they have exerted over 
my destiny. Prominent among these, I will mention Daniel 
Wood, Victory Birdseye, Elisha Litchtield, Ansel Judd, Asa 
Wells, David F. Dodge and Daniel Gott. It was while 
struggling with an unfriendly fortune that these and others 
of lesser note by kindly counsel or otherwise, strengthened 
me in my purposes and aided in their accomplishment. A 
suggestion from the first named of these individuals induced 
me to consult the second, who by a letter to the third, then 
our representative in Congress, secured^meTan appointment 
in the Military Academy, which thus uncxp^ectedly chano-ed 
again the current of my life. * 

Eut the advantages thus presented for my acceptance 
were not obtained without cost. They involved the neces- 
sity of a separation from home and kindred and friends, from 
all that constituted the world in which I then lived, and of 
entering upon a new and untried state of existence. ' One in 
whom the domestic ties were unusually strong, and who wi s 
called for the first time in his life away from their almJst 
immediate influence, may well be supposed to feel the sac- 
rifice of all he has ever loved or valued ; but the measure of 
that sacrifice can only be fully appreciated by him who has 
had a like experience. It was the mental anguish of death 
while yet the life pulses were beating warm and healthful, 
while the senses were all unclouded, and while relief from' 
physical agony aftbrded no part of a compensating equiva- 
lent. And when the nostalgic symptoms inciden't to such 
a state of mind and circumstances had become fairly devel- 
oped, actual death with all its attendant horrors seemed at- 
tractive and even welcome, provided my mortal frame couVl 
be restored to the scenes for which my longing heart wits 



126 THE POMl'EY IlE-UNION. 

pilling with ii desire as unconquerable as it may now seem 
extravagant. 

But I persevered in the course I had chosen. The recu- 
perative forces of youth and nature triumphed. Another 
world grew up around me. A new moral creation sprung 
into existence, which has ever since been constantly extend- 
iuof and consolidatinii' itself and becomino" more and more a 
subject of absorbing interest and affection. 

Yet even still there is an inner world recognized and ever 
unforgotten. It lies next outside of the charmed circle of 
my childhood's home, and partakes of its peculiar influences, 
though these lessen in intensity in proportion as they in- 
crease in circumference. Its inhabitants seem ditferent from 
those of the outer world. Whoever was born or has long 
resided in my native town, is bound to me by a tie un- 
known to others, and seems in some degree a relative. I 
have always availed myself of every convenient opportunity 
to keep alive the magic influence which connects mj life 
with the place of its commencement, and the surroundings 
of its earlier stages, and have sometimes hoped it yet was 
destined to terminate near where it first began. 

The great change in my life to which I have alluded, took 
place in 1825, a year not more momentous in my own his- 
tory than in that of the human race. Railroads, in the 
sense in which that word is now understood, were on that 
year first made a practical reality. The Stockton and Darl- 
ington railway for the general transporiation of freight and 
passengers from place to place, commenced its operations 
m that 3'ear, and was the first of Us species. 

It constituted an era in human history, a new departure 
in the progress of civilization. Other inventions and other 
causes have contributed to the great result, but an impulse 
was then communicated which has elevated human nature 
to a higher plane of existence and endued it with new attri- 
butes and new capabilities. The man of to-day is a very 
difierent being from tlie man of 1825. He can fly through 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 127 

space with the speed of an eagle. He can practically navi- 
gate the summit of mountain ranges as well as the beds of 
the deeper rivers. He can converse with his friends who 
are a thousand miles distant, and is made instantaneously 
conscious of its daily occurrences among the antipodes. If at 
the expiration of another forty-six years, he is fj-fted with 
powers attributed to the genii of Arabic fiction, the change 
will hardly surpass that which our own eyes have witnessed. 
But this change, great and beneficial as it has been in most 
respects, has not been without its disadvantages in others. 
Our native town, and especially its chief village, have felt 
some of its inauspicious effects. Its elevated position and 
other circumstances have placed it beyond the reach of any 
probable railroad or telegraph. In respect to other locali- 
ties, its relative movement has been backward. Its men of 
mark are mostly drawn to other centres. Syracuse, whose 
prosperity has by the cause we are considering, been so much 
enhanced, absorbs most of its mercantile andmanufacturing 
enterprise. The great west which by the same causes, ha's 
been brought practically nearer to the principal markets of 
the world, entices its agricultural population, until like most 
of the other rural districts of the State, it has been constant- 
ly diminishing in comparative wealth and in actual popu- 
lation. 

Yet while its hills remain to give their beautiful diversity 
to its unequalled landscapes, it will never be wanting in at- 
tractions for those who have an eye for rural beautv^^wher- 
ever tlie places of their birth. But to one who was born 
and nurtured among those hills, of whose moral view they 
thus formed a living part and parcel, they will always possess 
a charm which time and distance can never dispel. Hun- 
dreds of years hence, the wanderer from this his birth place, 
shall wend hither his pilgrim steps, as I have often done,' 
to gratify the irrepressible promptings of his heart, to for- 
tify the better principles of his nature, or to give his troubled 
spirit rest, by contemplating the theatre of his early inno- 
cence and by watching the lights and shadows that sweep over 



128 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

those griind and peacefal undulations, bringing calmness to 
a sonl that has long been tempest tossed, among the con- 
flicts and commotions of the world without. 

On the summit of the eminence which overlooks all its 
surroundings, and which is in the village burying ground, 
lies the brother by whose side I always slept in childhood, 
taking his final rest. Thither have I sometimes repaired on 
a summer's Sabbath hour, to meditate over the past and to 
admire the beautiful panorama wdiich spreads on every side, 
as far as the eye can reach. The impenetrable veil of the 
primeval forest has been withdrawn so far as to diversify 
and unfold the beauties it can no longer conceal. The sum- 
mer breezes, whose wings never are scorched by any 
sultry sun, are there nestling in the groves or flitting out and 
in at the windows of the hundreds of quiet homes that are 
scattered all around. Hills and valleys all verdant and beau- 
tiful stretch themselves out in endless variety on every side, 
until they meet and mingle with the skies in the dim dis- 
tant horizon. It is the loveliest sight of nature in her mildest 
mood that can be found in all the earth, and never satiates 
or ceases to delight theheartthatis all attuned to its higher, 
holier impulses. Ko one need ever seek a preferable spot 
on which to await the momentous events of the rapidly ap- 
proaching future. I hope that I may yet again be some- 
times permitted to feast my moral appetite upon its rich but 
unchanging treasures. 

Frequent are the admonitions however, that such privil- 
eo-es will soon be ended. At brief intervals the news is 
spread that some of our old fiimiliar friends have passed for- 
ever away. Even with your letter came the sad intelligence 
that Mr. Daniel Marsh, whom I remember from my earliest 
years, and who then and for long years afterwards resided 
within sight of my birth place, Avould never again be seen 
in his frequent walks around your native village. One by 
one the Great Teacher's call is summoning us from our 
game of life, which, like our schoolboy sports, is often left 
unfinished. The writer of these lines will doubtless precede 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 129 

most of those for whom they are intended, Imt they all will 
follow, and oh how soon ! Faith then looks up with hope- 
ful eye to a higher destiny prepared hy Ilini who has shaped 
all things more in kindlier adaptation to our individual hap- 
piness than could have been contrived by the most exalted 
human intelligence. Till then we all shall never meet again, 
but my kindest wishes shall attend each one in life, in death 
and in the realms beyond. From the narrow isthmus which 
connects the unforgotten past with the undeveloped future, 
I send you all my greeting, and bid you all^till next we meet, 
adieu. 

Yours, very truly, 

Chas. Mason. 
Dr. R. F. Stevens. 



New York, June 24th, 1871. 
Dr. R. F. Stevens, Sec'y, <j-c. 

Dear Sir : — Yourproposed Pompey re-union hasjustcome 
to my knowledge, having received from a relative this 
morning, a circular, in which my name appears as one of 
the speakers announced for the occasion. 

The idea is novel, attractive, and admirably conceived. 

I regret I did not know of it earlier, for I cannot think of 
any event, which w^ould give me greater pleasure ; but it is 
now too late ; other matters will prevent ray attendance. 

It is natural to reverence my birth place, and early home. 
The sweetest memories cling to the familiar scenes and 
friends of sunny childhood and youth. 

I spent several years at school and studying my profession 
on good old Pompey Hill, which has purer air and water, 
and is nearer Heaven than any inhabited place in the State. 

I remember well preceptors Leonard and Huntington. 
The old yellow Academy with its Bell; Declamation Hall, 
&c. There was, as usual a great variety of talent among 
the pupils. Some afterwards became graduates, studied the 
different professions and met with varied fortune. And a 



130 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

few have made their mark, and have founded a Lasting fame, 
but ior pecuniary success, there was one, who never studied 
at all, and who has far excelled all the others. The son of 
a wealthy farmer of the county, he was sent to the Academy 
to get educated and prepared for business, and he was pro- 
vided with the necessary new books for the purpose. But 
the boy understood trade meant business, not education, or 
'■^ Book-larnin" and he therefore spent most of his time at 
the Inn of Capt. Pitt Dyer. All old inhabitants will remem- 
ber the happy smiling face of the jovial Inn-keeper. This 
was the Pompey Exchange, where speculations, politics and 
religion were ably discussed, and where Uncle Nat stood 
champion of the world at chequers, and it was here the 
young pupil, between jSTovember and April, traded. Start- 
ing with the capital of a silver watch, he returned home in 
the Spring with four horses, three watches, and fifty dollars 
cash. The leaves of his bonks remained unsoiled. Uncle 
P. his father, was a i)r;icti'ul man, he saw the situation at a 
o-lance, he made nofirtluT effort in the line of the Academ- 
ics, but made a virtue of ix'ccssity and allowed the talents 
of his son to flow in ilicir natural channel, and it is due to 
the boy to say, that well lu' improved the opportunity, and 
now in middle age, he is the wealthy man, sagacious trader, 
able financier, and infiaeiitial citizen, although his corres- 
pondence exhibits some deficiency in his early school train- 
ing. 

I am proud of my native town, she has always leaned to- 
ward the right, vice has found no abiding place within her 
limits. Her farmers for intelligence and integrity, rank 
among our best citizens. From my earlie&t recollection her 
common schools have been models not surpassed, if equalled, 
by the best of the present time, and in them a good busi- 
ness education was brought to the door of every one, and 
was well improved. 

Among the able teachers in the old common school at 
Delphi, (my house,) which was one of the best in the coun- 
tv from 1815 to 1830, were Joshua A. Spencer, Elephalet 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 131 

Spencer, Hiram Denio, Wra. H. Shaiiklaiid, Orville Robin- 
sou, David C. Burdick and others, who afterwards became 
eminent men. Among their pnpils I might name man}^ 
who have done themselves great credit in after life. 

Pompey was settled by hardy jSTew England pioneers, who 
well understood the importance of schools. Their firtt 
business was to establish them, and thus they early shaped 
the future of this good old town. 

The present generation is enjoying the fruits of their 
foresight and enterprise, long may they retain their just 
reputation as an intelligent and upright people. 

In 1798, my father and mother, both from New England, 
settled in the then wilderness, on the hill about two miles 
from Delphi, the nearest neighbor was two miles away. 
Within ten years the beautiful little village with its churches 
and school sprang up, and all the neighboring fiirms were 
occupied. 

I cannot omit one more fact wliich commands my ven- 
eration and love for my native town. In her dust lie buried 
my parents, brothers, sisters and many relatives. 

Regretting that I cannot be present, and wishing you 
pleasant weather for the occasion and a grand, success, 
I remain. 

Your Obedient Servant, 

Hervey Sheldon. 



Clay, Onondaga Co., K Y., June 21, 1871. 
Dr. B. F. Stevens :— 

Having had an invitation to attend the " re-union at 
Pompey, on the 29th inst.," I hereby make known to you, 
m}- intention to be present. 

I am not a native of Pompey. But in 1827, when a lad 
14 years old, I went into the village of Delphi, to learn the 
hatting trade of Canfield Marsh, brother of Marovia Marsh, 
of Pompey Hill, also a hatter. In 1828, Marsh failed in 



132 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

business, and I was compelled to seek a new liome. I went 
to the village of Fabius, and worked with Marvin Button, 
at the harness trade, until 1831. I then went to Ponipey 
Hill, and worked with Edwin Dunbar, at the harness busi- 
ness, until May, 1834. That finished my residence in 
Pompe3^ October 12th, 1836, 1 married Miss Julia Peuoyer, 
a native of Fabius, Onondaga Co.,ISr. Y. In 1838, I located 
in this little village, known as New Bridge, but the proper 
name is Belgium. The name of our Post Office is Clay. I 
hold a commission as Postmaster of Clay, IST. Y., executed 
by Montgomery Blair, (P. M. General of the United States,) 
bearing date May 3d, 1861. 1 still continue as P. M. 

My father had several brothers who w^ere of the first set- 
tlers in Pompey. He had a sister who married Capt. Pun- 
dason Avery. The descendants of the Barnes clan are 
very numerous, and may be found in almost au)^ part of the 
Union ! They were well represented in the late rebellion. 

I am a native of this count}^; w\as boru August 24, 1812, 
in. what was then Cicero, but now Clay. 

Pompey has very many attractions, and I feel a deep in- 
terest in the forthcoming re-union of its former residents. 

David Porter, a native of Pompey Hill, a son of the late 
Dea. Porter, and a neighbor of^^mine, has been courteous 
enough to invite me to a seat in his carriage, to attend this 
anxiously looked for gathering. I accept of his kind invi- 
tation. We anticipate a glorious time, one that Avill pass 
down to posterity through the annals of history. 

I have already extended this letter beyond its proper lira- 
its, still, I will venture a quotation from a native of Pompey. 
" Pompey has produced more men of talent, than any other 

town in the county." Yours, 

Okris Barnes. 



Syracuse, June 27, 1871. 
Hon. Daniel Wood: — 

Dear Sir : — Previous cnga^ eraents prevents my joining 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 133 

you in the praise- worthy effort in gathering together all of 
the surviving former residents of the old town of Pompey, 
with a view to a re-union. 

I do not rank as a pioneer, yet my parents came from 
Massachusetts to Pompey, west Hill, in 1799, where I, then 
an* infant, resided for more than a quarter of a century, thus 
being quite familiar with the earl\^ settlement of said town. 

Respectfulh', 

Charles A. Baker. 



Palmyra, June 13, 1871. 
Dr. B. F. Stevens, Syracuse, N. Y. — 

Dear Sir : — I am in the receipt of an invitation to attend 
a re-union of the former residents of the old town of Pom- 
pey. As this is my native town, and some years of early 
life having been spent at the old Academy, I am persuaded 
that the occasion will be one not only of general interest, 
but to mvself especially agreeable. At my age, (73,) I can 
hardly expect to see many faces of the friends and associates 
of my early life. But the home of 3'our childhood, the rest- 
ing place of your honored dead, and the sweet memories of 
da3'S gone by, will sanctity and hallow the "old Hill," and 
revive the associations of the half century gone. 

Unless prevented by sickness, it will please me to attend 
and join in the pastimes of the occasion. 
Very Respectfully, 

Hiram K. Jerome. 



New York City, June 28, 1871. 
Dr. R. F. Stevens, Secretary, (^c. 

My Dear Sir : — Your favor of the 20th inst., inviting me 
to the re-union of the residents of Pompey on the 29th inst., 
was duly received. I have delayed answering it, till this, 
the last possible moment, in the hope that by some good 
turn of fortune's wheel, I might respond in person, rather 
than by letter. That, however proves impossible, owing to 
•engagements made some weeks before notice of the time 



134 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

selected reached me. I am, therefore, reluctantly compelled 
to deny m3'sclf the pleasure of joining in this re-union, and 
of meeting the many friends who will be present. 

My annual returns to the home of my childhood have 
kept me familiar with the scenes of my earliest days ; and 
it would delight me to be once more " at home," and* to 
point out to those who, as to these annual pilgrimages, have 
been less favored than myself, some of the beauties of the 
old place. In a life not free from wandering, it has been my 
privilege to see large portions of my native land, and some- 
thing of many lands abroad. It seems to me moreover, to 
be one of the peculiarities of my own mind to remember 
and recall, with something more than ordinary facility and 
distinctness, the scenes which have been laid before my eyes. 
But in all the countries I have been permitted to visit, I can 
recall few scenes more beautiful than those which at this 
season of the year are presented from the Old Hill. The 
lakes, which are set like mirrors in the landscape ; the dis- 
tant hills, almost swelling into mountains, the mighty sweep 
of vision to the east and north; the long valley's to the 
south-west and south-east, the rich fields nearer by, and al- 
most at your feet, and showing, like the divisions on a chess 
board, farms and forests, dwellings and orchards, waving 
corn and ripening meadows, yellow^ stubble and green pas- 
tures, flocks and herds, and running brooks; all these make 
up a picture which is ever before my mind, and which seems 
to me fairer than almost any other scene ever presented to 
my eyes. In what stream in all the old town have I not 
bathed or fished? Upon which of its waters have I not 
skated ? Down what hill have I not coasted over the deep 
snows, only to drag the heavy sled again and again up the 
steep ascent, with panting lungs and arid muscles ? From 
what tree, or bush, or sward, in forest, orchard and field, 
have I not gathered nuts and fruits and berries ? In how 
many meadows did I not make spoil of the honey of the 
wild bee ? Through how many fields and woods did I not 
use to wander, hunting, or at least trying to persuade my- 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 135 

self I was hunting? In liow many of the old School houses 
have I not been present at some thronged " spelling school," 
to choose or be chosen, on one side or the other, and to con- 
tend for my standing, or yield at length, and among the last, 
to inevitable defeat, with an interest as keen, and a regret as 
bitter as have come in after years in the contests that may 
have seemed, (but were they really?) far more important ? 
Up what precipice was it not my delight to climb ? And if 
my poor name is not otherwise worthy of remembrance, is 
it not, with so many, many others, handed down to lasting 
immortality, in the carvings on the trees at Pratt's and 
Conkling's Falls? What place in all the broad landscape 
is not associated in my mind with some delightful recollec- 
tion of itself, and of persons present or absent, living or 
departed ? And, turning to the highest point of the old 
Hill, where the grave-stones point aloit, how many memories 
throng upon us, as we cross. the enclosure, and seek the 
graves where rest the loved and honored of other days; 
parents, brothers, sisters, kinsfolk, playmates, friends, how 
many have there taken up their final earthly abode ? How 
long will it be before the old Hill can be forgotten for their 
sakes, were every other tie that calls me thither, sundered 
forever ? 

It would ill become me now to attempt any statement of 
facts, whether of history or tradition, such as others who will 
be present will delight you with. But surely, there is some- 
thing in soil and climate and country, which stamps itself on 
the character and shines out in all future life. Else why is 
such a delegation gathered to the homes of their childhood ? 

The steep hills, the dark forests, the deep snows, the fierce 
winds, the long, cold winters, the late coming springs; all 
these were struggled against and overcome. But, with 
these, were the charms of spring, with wild flowers blossom- 
ing on the edges of the snow-drifts; the sunmiers in their 
beauty, the glories of sunset; and autumns rich with fruits, 
and bright with forest splendors. All these have left their 
stamp upon the lives of too many children of the old birth- 



136 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

place, for us to doubt that such a commencement is often- 
times the best preparations for the duties of hfe, in whatever 
occupation or station. They who come up to tliis re-union, 
from the hall of the Senate, or the Chair of the Executive, 
or the head of the army, or the bureau of the Cabinet, or 
the counting houses of merchants, or the direction of great 
j'ailways, all will testify that the forces whicli have enabled 
them to surmount obstacles and conquer difficulties in their 
future life, if not derived from, were at least largely strength- 
ened and developed by the life they led in chiUlliood and 
voutli amid the snows and storms of the old Ilill. 

The powers which have governed mighty States, or led 
great armies victors through long campaigns, and over wide 
realms, or held Senate's attentive listeners, or left their stamp 
on the history of the world in the treaty that settles National 
•disputes, not by war with its bloodshed and devastation and 
misery, but by weighing grievances, claims and com[»laiiits 
in the just and equal balance of peaceful arbitration, or which 
have built and operated vast railroads, or sent forth great 
lines of steam ships over distant seas, the names of which 
were scarcely known to us in our school days. These 
powers were trained and develo[ie(l in the common schools 
or the Academ}', and by the libraries of the old town. What 
honor is not due to those who in the earliest years, in the 
midst of difficulties, privations and dangers, seeking new 
habitations, and laying the foundations of new institutions, 
gathered libraries and built schools and academies such as 
these, and left behind them influences so potent and benefi- 
cial, to rule in affairs of State, to lead in war, and to become 
as oil on troubled waters, soothing and assuaging the hates 
and quarrels of great nations, and turning the spear and 
sword into pruning hook and plow-share. How many 
through all this broad land, have been refreshed and invig- 
orated by the writings of one who wentfrom the old Hill. But 
how few, besides those who were born or bred there, know 
that the graces Avhich are properly represented in the name 



THE POMPEY RE UNION. 137 

they know her by, were born and trained and cultured in a 
simple farm house in our native town. 

May these influences, so powerful and beneficent during 
the lives of those who may be present on this occasion, con- 
tinue to bear now, increased and widened sway through all 
the coming generations. And may it Jong be the delight 
of those whose early years shall be spent amid the old scenes, 
to remember Avith pleasure the homes of their childhood, 
and with ailection and gratitude the memories of those who, 
in hardship and privation, founded the Schools and Churches 
wherein they shall be trained and fitted for usefuhiess and 
power throughout the world. 

Desiring to be remembered with affection to those who 
may come up to this feast, and not seeking to conceal my 
sense of their superior good fortune, and my sharp regret 
that I am not able to share personal!}- in all their pleasures, 
I am, 

Most respectfully and truly 

Your friend, 

LUCIEN BiKDSEYE. 



POMPEY ACADEMY. 



The liistory ot tl)e Acadomy in Pompey is very largely 
the history of the town. It is a history of labors and strug- 
gles and gifts and self denials and delays ; hut not of de- 
feats or disappointments. 

The first settlers of the town were almost wholly from 
Connecticut. Although, in entering the wilderness, they 
left schools and churches behind them, they were fully sen- 
sible of the advantages of churches and schools, and spared 
no eftbrts to secure the same to themselves and to their 
children. 

In 1784, Washington, then scarcely rested from the 
fatigues of the Revolutionary War, had made his well- 
known journey up the vallc}- of the Hudson, and as far as 
Crown Point, and up the ]Slohawk and by the Portage at 
Wood Creek to the Oneida Lake, that he might sec for him- 
self what means there were for commnnication by water 
between the new States just established on the sea-board, 
and the waters of the great lakes and the St. Lawrence. 

What he saw then, as well as in his explorations, previous 
and subsequent, in Western Virginia and Pennsylvania, led 
him to the efforts, which lasted through his life, for opening 
communication from the seaboard to the western Rivers and 
Lakes. Thisjourney, and the attention Avith which all his 
movements were followed, turned public observation more 
fully to the future advantages of settlements of the west, and 
tended in a few years greatly to promote emigration to the 
western wilderness. 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 139 

By the Act of July 25,1782, (1 Greenleaf s Laws ofK 
Y. 55,) the State of ISTew York had set apart and assigned 
hinds for the purpose of making grants to the officers and 
soldiers of the State, who had served in the then present 
war with Great Britain. By the Act of Feb'y 28, 1789, (2 
Greenleaf, 281,) after a recital that the title thereto of the 
Indiana had been extinguished, the Surveyor General had 
been directed to lay out the military county lands into 
townships, each to contain sixty thousand acres of land, 
and to be laid out as nearly in squares as local circumstan- 
ces would permit, and to be divided into one hundred lots, 
as nearly square as might be ; each lot to contain six hun- 
dred acres, as nearly as might be. 

This act contains minute directions for making surveys 
and maps of the land, and for " balloting" for the lots; so 
that the soldiers, their heirs or assigns, should receive the 
lands they were entitled to ; six lots in each town being as- 
signed " for promoting the gospel and a public school or 
schools, and one for promoting literature in the State, as the 
Legislature might direct." 

During 1789-90, Simeon DeWitt, then Surveyor General, 
surveyed the military county lands; laying them out into 
townships and lots, and displaying his classical tastes and 
learning by the names which he gave the townships ; as 
Pompe}^, Manlius, Cicero, Fabius, Romulous, Cato, &c. 

The county of Onondaga was erected from the county of 
Herkimer, by the Act of March 5, 1794. (3 Greenleaf, 110.) 
Pompey and other toAvns were created by this Act. The 
new county comprised the military county lands. It em- 
braced all that part of the State, contained in the present 
counties of Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca and Cortland, to- 
gether with portions of Oswego, Wayne, Tompkins and 
Schuyler. 

The first settlement within the bounds of Pompey, was 
made in April, 1792, by Ebenezer Butler, Jr., (afterwards 
commonly known as Judge Butler,) a native of Harwinton,. 



140 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

Litchfield Co., Conn.* Ho liad in 1791 purchased military 
lot !N"o. 65, in the township, f and in that year visited it ; but 
his famil}' were not removed thither till 1792. In 1793, his 
brother Jesse| and others, with their families, came to the 
toAvn. 

The movement for founding an Academy seems to have 
commenced very shortly thereafter. As early as January, 
1800, a petition of the inhabitants of the town and vicinity, 
to the Regents of the University for the incorporation of an 
Academy at Pompey, was prepared, signed and forwarded to 
Albany.§ 

It was presented to the Regents at a meeting held on the 
17th March, 1800, and was referred to a committee of ex- 
amination. At a meeting of the Regents, held March 31, 
1800, the report of that committee was considered. There 
seems to have been at that time no other Academy in the 
county. The Regents adopted a preamble and resolutions, 
by which, (after reciting that it was uncertain whether Pom- 
pey was the most proper place for an Academy in the county 
of Onondaga, and that there was reason to doubt the expe- 
diency of having more than one Academy in one county,) 
it was resolved that the secretary should transmit a copy of 
said petition and of that resolution to the supervisors of On- 
ondaga county, and request that they would at their next 
session inform the Regents whether in their opinion there 
were any, and what, objections to granting the pra3'er of 
said petition. (See Appendix JSTo. 2.) 

* Judge Butler died in Ohio, Sept., 1829, agcdOG years. 

t Lot 65 is that part of the town on whicli the Academy, Churches, burial ground, &c., 
&c., are situated. 

.t Jes.sc died at Fabius, N, Y., November 30th, 1856, aged 9-3 years 1 mo. 

'i This Petition, like many other documents hereinafter referred to, throws much light 
on the history of the town. The first settlement had been made le.ss than eight years 
before ; and here is a paper setting forth the advantages and neces.sity of a Schoolof high 
character, it is signed by twenty-five different persons ; all apparently heads of families> 
every one subscribing money, the lowest 825 : the highest 3125 ; the total amounting to 
Sl,rX\ So much of useful information as to the names of the first settlers, their efforts, 
labors and sacrifices, and so much of family history, worthy of honest pride, maybe 
gathered from these papers, that it has been deemed proper to print them at length, in 
the Appendix to this sketch. The petition here mentioned is No. 1 in such Appendix. 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 141 

The supervisors of the coiinW met at Pompey Hill in Oc- 
tober, 1800. Their action was favorable to the views of the 
petitioners. (See Apendix iN'o. 3.) The same having been 
certified to the Regents, the original petition and the pro- 
ceedings of the supervisors were, on the 16th Feb'j, 1801, 
referred to a committee. (See Appendix No. 2.) 

ISTo further action being had by the Regents, the good 
people of Pompey seem to have become impatient; and in» 
the winter of 1802, they prepared another petition, which 
was signed by sixtu persons, and presented to the Regents 
March 15, 1802. (See Appendix JN'o. 4.) On the receipt of 
it, and on the same day, the Regents resolved to approve of 
the application of sundry inhabitants of the county of On- 
ondaga, for the incorporation of an Academy at Pompey, in 
said county, and that they would incorporate the same upon 
satisfactory evidence being given, within a reasonable time, 
of a compliance with the resolution passed by the Regents 
March 23, 1801. 

This latter resolution, (after reciting that Academics were 
intended to teach branches of literature superior to those 
taught in common schools, and requiring to that end a more 
extensive provision for the support of well qualified instruc- 
tors,) declared that in future no Academy crught to be in- 
corporated, unless it be made to appear to the Board hy sat- 
isfactory evidence that a proper building for the purpose 
had been erected, finished and paid for, and that funds had 
been obtained and well secured, producing an annual in- 
come of at least §100 ; and further, that there be a condition in 
the charter of incorporation, that the principal or estate pro- 
ducing such income should never be diminished or appro- 
priated; and that such income should be appropriated onl}^ 
to the maintainance, or the salaries of the professors or tu- 
tors of the Academy. 

The resolutions of March 15, 1802, and March 23d, 1801, 
were communicated to the petitioners, by certified copies 
thereof, which are still among the files of the Academy. 



142 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

The erection of the first building for the Academy, must 
have been commenced in or about 1803. Mr. Samuel Ba- 
ker states that when he first saw the building, in August, 
1806, as his father JSTathaniel Baker was moving into the vil- 
lage, the building was erected and covered, but was not com- 
pleted or ready for occupation. William Lathrop was the 
builder. 

• On the 20th July, 1807, Wm. Lathrop and George W. 
Wood entered into an agreement, (see Appendix Xo. 5,) 
with Manoah Pratt, Henry Seymour and Samuel S. Bald- 
win, w4io were " a committee to build the Academy in Pom- 
pey," to do certain specified carpenter's work in completing 
the building designed for the Academy, for the sum of $200 ; 
the same to be paid by assignment of subscriptions which 
should be good and collectable." Mr. Wood soon after 
retired from the job. Mr. Lathrop proceeded with it for 
some time, but on the 2d March, 1810, he relinquished the 
unfinished part of the job, and agreed to accept $140, in fall 
of whiit had then been done. In July, 1810, a new subscrip- 
tion was raised, and in the same paper the same committee 
entered into an agreement to procure the Academy to be 
completed for the sum of §450. (See Appendix ISTo. 6.) 

It is easily to be gathered that, up to this time, the project 
for the establishment of the Academy had met many diffi- 
culties and much opposition ; among the files of the Re- 
gents is an affidavit of Walter Colton, sworn to March 2d. 
1832, and delivered to the Board at their meeting of March 
15, 1802, when the second petition for the Academy was 
presented and conditionally granted. (See Appendix No. 7.) 

In this affidavit, Mr. Colton, who had signed the first pe- 
tition for the Acadeni}', subscribing -fl'iO, but who had in 
the meantime removed to Onondaga Hill, charged fraud, 
it would seem, in ths getting up of the first petition, in Jan- 
uary, 1800. 

Opposition however, proved ineffectual. The great dif- 
ficulty Avas the raising of money to build and complete, and 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 143 

then to endow, the Academy. When we consider the con- 
dition of the countiy, emerging, as it then was, from the 
utter bankruptcy of the Revolutionary War, with its conti- 
nental currency ; and especially of this part of the country, 
without money, or roads, or canals, or markets, or any 
means of improvement or communication, we shall see how 
great was the undertaking to found and rear such an insti- 
tution. The original subscription of January, 1800, proved 
wholly insufficient. A new one was raised in 1807, to pay 
Lathrop and Wood for finishing the then half built house. 
That also failed, j^o doubt it was true, as Mr. Colton had 
stated in his affidavit, that some had died, and others were 
insolvent and unable to pay what they had subscribed. But 
the public spirit of the town was sufficient to overcome all 
these obstacles. In 1810, the new subscription above men- 
tioned was eftected, which amounted to $2,345. (See Ap- 
pendix jSTo. 8.) It was sufficient to finish the building that 
had so long remained incomplete, and to furnish an endow- 
ment with such an annual income as should meet the con- 
ditions on which alone the Regents could grant the charter. 

It is no doubt to the great and generous endeavoi then 
made that the tradition of the town refers, which tells of the 
efforts for the raising of mone}', when subscriptions were 
doubled, and the increased value of farms and property, if 
such a school were established, was made the ground of ap- 
peal to the timid, the doubting and the frugal. 

At length, in the Autumn of 1810, the building for the 
Academy was completed and paid for; and there remained 
$1,450, to serve as an endowment for the yielding of the net 
annual revenue of $100, required to warrant the granting of 
a charter. 

In February, 1811, the final steps for the incorporation of 
the school were taken. A petition, (in the peculiar and well 
known hand writing of the late Mr. V. Birdseye,) was drawn 
and generally signed ; and after being verified b}' the late 
Henry Seymour, (whose influence and labors for the school 



144 THE roMPEY re-union. 

everywhere appear,) was forwarded to the Eegents, in March, 

1811. (Sec Apendix Ko. 9.) 

Oil the lith :\[arch, 1811, by vote ef tlie Regents, the 
Academy was incorporated, by the name of " The Trustees 
of Pompey Academy," Daniel D. Tompkins, then Governor 
of the State, was Chancellor of the Regents, and Francis 
Bloodgood was Secretary. The charter is signed by them, 
and sealed with the seal of the Regents, and bears date 
March 10th, 1811. It recites that a proper buikling for the 
Academy has been erected, tinishcd and paid for, and that 
funds have been obtained and well secured, producing a net 
annual income of i?100, and provides that the principal or 
estate producing such income shall never be diminished, and 
that the income shall be appropriated only to the maintain- 
anee or salaries of the professors or tutors of the Academy. 

Tlie persons named in the charter as the first Trustees 
were Henry Seymour, Senior Trustee ; Samuel S. Baldwin, 
Manoah Pratt, Daniel AVood, Itharaar Coe, Asa Wells, 
Hezekiah Clark, John Jerome, Silas Park, Jacobus DePuy, 
Daniel Allen, Chauncey Jerome, Daniel Tibbals, Joshua 
Johnson, Derrick C.Lansing, Benjamin Sanford, Charles C. 
Mosely, AVilliam J. Wilcox, Jonathan Sianley, Jr., Levi 
Parsons, William Cook, Victory Birdseye, Jasper Hopper 
and James Geddes. 

At a meeting of the Trustees, held April 4, 1811, Henry 
Seymour was elected President, A^ictory Birdseye, Secreta- 
ry,"^ and Daniel Wood, Treasurer. On the 20th May, 1811, 
Henry Seymour, Daniel Tibbals and Victory Birdseye were 
elected a prudential committee. On the 3d of November, 

1812, the following officers were chosen : Asa Wells, presi- 
tlent; V. Birdseye, secretary; D. Wood, treasurer; Asa 
Wells, S. S. Baldwin and D. Wood, prudential committee. 
Rev. Joshua Leonard was hired as a teacher, at a salary of 
$500 per annum. On (!th October, 1813, the following of- 
ficers were chosen : Rev. J. Leonard, president; V. Birds- 
eye, Secretary; H. Seymour, treasurer; D.Wood, C.Je- 
rome and D. Tibbals, prudential committee. 




OLD POMPEY ACADEMY. 




INTERIOR VIEW OF THE "OLD ACADEMY,' 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. • 145 

By this time, the organization of the Academy had been 
substantially perfected, and its appropriate work had been 
begun. Thenceforth, the principal labor of carrying on tlie 
institution, devolved either on the treasurer, who had charo-e 
of the funds, or the preceptor who taught in the school-room. 
Henry Seymour, remained treasurer from Oct. G, 181:1, till 
January 10, 1821. On the 24th].March, 1819, he had been 
appointed one of the Canal Commissioners of the State, and 
his labors in superintending the construction of the Erie Ca- 
nal, then well advanced towards completion, no doubt pre- 
vented his continuing to serve longer as treasurer. It was 
however, several years later, when he removed to Ftica' 
and he continued to be a trustee till Oct. 30, 1883, when his 
resignation as trustee was accepted, and Mr. Samuel Baker 
was chosen trustee in his place. On :\Ir. Seymour's resig- 
nation as treasurer, in 1821, Luther ]Marsh was chosen ili 
his stead: remaining treasurer till May 15, 1827, when Mr. 
\'. Birdseye was elected to the office, which he held till his 
death, Sept. 16, 1853. Levi Wells was then elected to the 
office, and held it till his death, March 31, 1872, Avhen Dr. 0. 
0. Dibble was chosen to succeed him. 

A singular hict should be noted as to the title of the 
Academy to its lot of laud. OvA his accession to the office 
of treasurer in the fall of 1853, Mr. Levi Wells, while ex- 
amining the papers that had come to his hands, found the 
deed for this lot of land. It was given by Jesse Butler and 
Louisa his wife, to Pompey Academy. It Avas dated '• the 
—day of— A. D. 1811," was in the usual form of a deed, 
with a covenant of warranty. Consideration, 8100. It con- 
veyed in fee to the Academy, "All that certain piece or par- 
cel ofland lying on lot number sixty-five, in the^ownship of 
Pompey, bounded as follows, to-wit: Beginning at a stake 
ninety-six links, soutli, fifty-six degrees we^st from the south- 
west corner of Daniel Wood's house : running from thence 
west, sixteen rods to a stake: thence north nineteen rods: 
thence cast nineteen rods to the east line of the highway: 
thence along the highwav southerlv to the place of^'beo-in- 

10 ^ 



146 THE rOMPEY RE-UNION. 

ning, containing two acres of land, be the same more or 
less." 

Thoogli imperfect in the date, it was otherwise in due 
form, and duly signed and sealed by both grantors. And it 
was witnessed as to Mr. Butler by H. Clark. But it was 
neither acknowledged, proved or recorded. Of course it was 
liable to loss or destruction. It could only be read in evi- 
dence, if that should ever be necessary, by giving proof of 
signatures nearly half a century old at that time, and likely 
soon to be wholly incapable of proof. Mr. Wells lost no 
time in endeavoring to cure this defect. On presenting the 
deed to Mrs. Butler, she at once freely acknowledged it be- 
fore him as a Justice of the Peace. Mr. Butler, however, 
refused to do the same, and it became necessary to resort 
to a provision of the recording act, very rarely used of 
late years. The genuineness of Mr. Butler's signature to 
the deed was proved by Mr. Samuel Baker. The gen- 
uineness of the signature, and the deatli of Henry Clark, the 
witness to Mr. Butler's execution of the deed, were proved 
by Mr. John H. Clark, (brother of Henry Clark.) Then, by 
tiling the deed with the County Clerk, to remain forever on 
file in his ofRce, it Avas admitted to record on the 5th of 
Januar}-, 1854, and recorded in Liber 115 of Deeds, p. 138. 
Thus, after a lapse of more than forty years, the title of 
the Academy to the site of its school building was first 
secured against loss and danger. 

By a law passed April 18, 1813, the Commissioners of 
the Land Office were " authorized and required to grant by 
Letters Patent to the trustees of Pompey Academy, and 
their successors, in fee simple. Lot Number Fifteen in the 
town of Camillus, in the County of Onondaga, any law to 
the contrary notwithstanding."' It was then, in the law, 
made the duty of the trustees, when they should j" sell the 
said lot or any part thereof, to loan the money arising from 
such sale on landed security, to double the value of the sum 
so loaned, and on the payment of any such loan, then to re- 
loan the same forever, and to appropriate the interest arising 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 147 

from such loans forever to the support and maintenance of 
iDstruction in said Academy." 

The passage of this hiw is believed to have been secured 
by the late V. Birdseye, at a time when he was in Albany, 
to attend the Supreme Court. 

This lot of land, (la in Camillus,) now in the town of Van 
Buren, lies on the south bank of Seneca Eiver, about two 
miles below, or east of, Baldwinsville. It contained 638.88 
acres, and was originalh^ covered with a large and valuable 
growth of pine and oak timber, which was easily rafted to 
the mills on the River. The Commissioners of the Land 
Office had been for years vexed by the stealing of the tim- 
ber from the lot, which they had been unable to prevent or 
to punish. This tact no doubt made the obtaining of the 
grant much easier than it would otherwise have been. 

On securing the passage of the Act, and its signature by 
the Governor, Mr. B. returned with a certified copy; no 
one in I*ompey knowing anything of it. He went imme- 
diately to the land, with the late Warren Scranton, and 
with his assistance, and that of Spencer Smith as surveyor, 
surveyed and subdivided the lot. Very soon, such portions 
were sold, that owners were settled on parts of the lot to 
watch the remainder, and prevent trespassing. The whole 
of the land was soon sold, producing a fund of about $4,000 ; 
the income of which tended very materially to promote the 
welfare and success of the school. — (See Clark's Onondaga, 
I: 245.) 

All the older inhabitants of the town and the early scholars 
will well recollect the old Academy. It was a large building 
for that time and place, of wood, painted yellow, nearlv 
square, being 50 feet by 40 ; its gable fronting the south ; 
of two stories, and with a hall ten feet wide running through 
the middle of the first floor. On each side of this hall, at 
the front, was a study room, ten feet by fifteen. Behind 
each, of these, and on each side of the hall was a long room 
extending to the rear of the building, forty feet by fifteen. 



148 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

In the long room on the west side of the hall, the com- 
mon school of the village was taught for many years ; it 
being in fact a department of the Academy, long after the 
chiarter was granted. It had been so occupied even before 
the whole building was completed, and the charter obtained. 
In the room on the east of the hali, the Academy was taught. 
All the old pupils will recollect the long room ; with its 
broad iire-place at the south end ; the entrance from the 
hall, by the door about a third of the distance from the south 
end ; the Preceptor's chair and table at the north end ; the 
sloping desks, fastened to the wall, on either side ; the long 
benches before the desks ; both benches and desks of the 
finest white pine, and well whittled and marked. On the 
west side of the room, behind the door leading into the hall, 
and at the Master's right hand, sat the girls. On the otlier 
side, and below the hall door on the west side, sat the boy? : 
the smallest of each sex being nearest the teacher, and ris- 
ing by age, till the oldest scholars w'ere trusted larthest from 
his eye. The favorite seats were those on each side of the 
massive walls of the projecting fire-place, with but a step 
between the seat and the boards that covered the bricks of 
the chimney. The seats could be seen and approached only 
from the side next the master. Here, many a game and 
trick were played; much fruit and many nuts eaten. From 
one of these secluded corners it was that about December, 
1819, the live coal from the fire was dropped into the open 
hand of the new scholar who, on his first day at the school, 
stood before the fire, with closed eyes, and hands spread 
behind his back, during Mr. Leonard's morning prayer. 
That scholar recently died at a good old age ; and he told 
the writer that he never knew or suspected whose sleight-of- 
hand had pla^'ed the neat trick. If the perpetrator of it 
shall see these lines, he may now safely make due confes- 
sion. Lethimdoso. "Better late than never." 

In alter years, when the District School-house had been 
built, the common school was removed thither. Then the 
west room became tlie chemical and philosophical laborato- 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 140 

ry and lecture room, which was so attractive on the Wed- 
nesda}- afternoons, when th-e routine of studying and reciting 
gave place to more enticing lectures and experiments. How 
pungent was the chlorine ? How pronounced the odor of 
the sulphuretted hydrogen ? How proud was the pupil 
chosen to stand with the teacher hehind the tahle, to lend 
an occasional hand in helping an experiment through to suc- 
cess y Of what matter was even an extra breath of chlorine 
to one who was enjoying such a distinction? 

The second stor^'was the chapel. It occupied nearly the 
v,;hole of the upper part of the building, and was forty feel 
square. The stairs leading to it were at the north, at the ex- 
treme rear end of the halh At the south, or front of the 
chapel Avas " The stage," a broad platform raised just three 
feet from the floor. On each side'of the stage, at the front 
cornei of the building, was a small room for study, ten feet 
by fifteen. The roof was supported by four columns of 
carved or turned pine, at equal distance from the corners and 
(•entre of the room. 

Church service was conducted here for years, and until 
t!ie Congregational Churcli of the village was erected and 
dedicated, in 1S17. Here also were held The Exhibitions 
which were the gala days of the town, when the pupils of 
Leonard and Littlejohn declaimed, and the laughing gas 
was administered, and the audience scattered before the 
steps of the ha}ipy but unconscious victim, whose brief de- 
lusion soon left him, to wonder wliat folly he had commit- 
ted while under the influence of" the gas,'' 

In I800, the old Academy had become so dilapidated, and 
so unsuited to the wants of the school, as to require re- 
building. It was found necessary to have also a dwelling 
house for the Preceptor. A new subsciption was made, 
and money raised : the effort therefor commencing about 
the year 1831. 

In 1834, the old building was vacated, and the new one 
.commenced, whicli Avas finished and opened in the fall of 



150 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

1835 ; the school being in the meantime taught in the Bii?- 
trict school house. The Preceptor's house was completed 
in May, 1836. The cost of the Academy was $3,000, with 
extras to the amount of $110. The cost of the Preceptors 
house and extras, was $1,285. 5G. Timothy Butteriield wa?j 
the builder. 

"I^any curious entries appear in the minutes and among 
the files of the Academy. 

On the 6th of October, 1815, the Prudential Committee 
order the Treasurer to pay " the bearer, the Captain of the 
band of rausick, thirty-four dollars for the services of said 
band at the Exhibition of said Institution." This order i-s 
receipted by John Hoare who was therefore the " Captain 
of the band of musick." 

There are, during several years, charges by, and payments 
to John Handy and Hezekiah Hopkins, (the two tavern keep- 
ers of the village,) for liquors, board and " horse bate," for 
the musicians. 

During 1817, the scholars numbered 152 ; During 1818, 
135 ; During 1822, 77 : During 1824, 85. 

It is difficult, if not impossible, to obtain a perfect list of 
the teachers wdio kept the common school, while it was held 
in the west room of the Acadom}^ But the following list is 
believed to be nearly complete 

James Robinson, kept a school in which he taught tl4e 
classics and higher English branches, in 1805-6-7. 

Abraham Plaunt, taught for some three or four winters. 
Smith Dunham, taught, A. D. 1813-14. 
Harvey Canfield in 1814. 

Hugh Wallis, Dartmouth 1791; died 1848 ; aged 81, i« 
1814. 

Miles Dunbar, Jr., in 1814-15. 

Orange Butler, in 1815. 

J. J. Deming, April 25, 181G, to Oct. 1, 1817. 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. ISl 

Daniel Gott, 1817-18. 

Dauiel Miinsou Wakeley, 1818. 

Manoah Pratt, (then Jr.) tor three winters. 

B. Franklin Chappell for one winter. 

The list of teachers in the Academy proper, is believed to 
be more perfect. 

The tirst teacher employed in the Academy was Ely Bur- 
chard ; (Yale 1811, died 1866,) at a salary of |:350. He 
taught from Dec. 5, 1811, to Oct. 5, 1813. Prior to the en- 
gagement of jSlr. Burchard, three separate efforts had been 
made to engage other teachers ; but all had for some reaso» 
proved nnsuccessful. 

On the 4th Sept. 181o, the trustees of the Academy ap- 
proved of contracts made with Rev. Joshua Leonard* to 
take charge of the Academy as principal, at a salary of $500, 
and Smith Dunham to take charge of the common school, 
under the superintendence of the Academy, at a salary of 
$300. Mr. Leonard continued in charge of the Academy 
till 1822 ; being also most of the time pastor of the Con- 
gregational Church in the village. 

On the 25th April, 1822, Rev. Eleazer S. Barrows, (Mid- 
dlebury, 1811 ; and Tutor and Professor of Latin, in Ham- 
ilton College ; died 1847,) and who had become pastor of 
the same church, took charge of the Academy under a writ- 
ten agreement, by which he w-as to take the interests of the 
Academy under his care and superintendence : to provide 
for its instruction by the employment of suitable teachers, 
and to superintend its government and general internal 
management. He continued in charge of the school till 

*Rev. Joshua Leonard, born June 2"), 17(i9. Graduated at Brown University, lt88, A. 
M. Yale, 17t2. First settled in the ministry at Ellington, Conn., ■whence, about IT'JT or8, 
he removed to Cazenovia, N. Y. Here, on the ITth May, 1798, he organized a Presby- 
terian Cliurch, of nine members, the first Church formed there. Continued pastor of 
that church for about 1-1 years, when he resigned his charge on account of impaired 
health ; the church then numbering l'J7 members. From Cazenovia he removed to 
Pompey. He was Preceptor of Pompey Academy for about S years. He died at .\iiburn, 
N. Y. Dec. IS, 1843, aged 73 years. 



152 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

April, 1828. But the actual teaching and management of 
the school were committed to others. Edward Aikin, (Mid- 
dlebury, 1815: Died 1831,) came in May, 1822, and re- 
mained for about tliree years. Flavins Josephus Littlejohn, 
(Hamilton, 18 2 7,). taught during part of 1825, infusiug very 
great interest and life into the school. Henry Howe, (Mid- 
dleh.ury; 1817,) succeeded ; remaining till September, 1828, 
when he removed to Canandaigua, to take charge of the 
Academy there, and which he conducted with success for 
the next 15 years : dying in 1805. 

Mr. Barrows, no doubt, made " a good thing" by this ar- 
rangement : as he received the Regents and tuition moneys, 
and $300 per annum out of the funds, with an annual al- 
lowance for repairs ; making in all about §1,000 per an- 
num, while he secured the services of the gentlemen who 
actually taught the school, for about half that sum, or less. 

On the 25th October, 182S, l^ev. Andrew Huntington. 
(Yale, 1815,) Avho still survives, took charge of the Acado- 
my, and taught it till July 14, 1834. 

In October, 1834,'Samuel S. Stebbius. (Yale, 181(1; Died 
I860,) and who like Mr. Huntington, was a tine schouir, 
became preceptor, continuing in charge until January, 1843. 

Hon. Amos ^Yestcott, lately mayor of Syracuse, now 
deceased, and a graduate of the Polytechnic Institute at 
Troy, N. Y., was assistant to Mr. Stebbins, iVom Sept. 183(3, 
to Sept. 1838. Wm. E. Mason, succeeded him as assistant: 
teaching till August, 1830. 

In September, 1843, Ensign Baker became preceptor, re- 
maining so, till April, 184(:i. Harrison V. Miller, M. D., 
(Hamilton, 1851,) was assistant teacher in 1845-G. From 
Sept., 1846, to July, 1852, Truman K. Wright, (Middlebury, 
1839,) was preceptor. Charles H. Payson, taught from 
Sept., 1852, to April, 1854. He was then succeeded by E, 
Delos Wells, (Williams, 1854,) who taught till August, 1855. 

Rev. John F. Kendall, (Hamilton, 1855,) succeeded teach- 



THE rOMPEY KE-UNION. 15o 

iiiiX till August, 1856. Wm. W. Waterman taught from 
tSept., 1856, to April, 1857. S. ^Marshall Ingalls then taught 
till April, 1858. Theodore Beard, (Hamilton, 1856 : Died 
lS60,)-suceeeded, teaching till Aug., 1859, with the excep- 
tion. of the latter part of 1858, when Daniel P. Baldwin, 
(Madison University,) supplied his place, during a sickness. 
George W. Kellogg, (Hamilton, 1850.) taught from Octo- 
ber, 1850, to April, 1860 ; being then succeeded In- Joseph 
Dow, (Dartmouth, 1833,) who remained two years. Lozenzo 
Fish succeeded him, teaching till August, 1<S64. He was 
succeeded by Orson G. Dibble, (Yale, 1864,) now the phy- 
sician at Pompcy, and the Secretary and Treasurer of the 
Academy. He taught till August, 1867, and was followed 
l»3- Edwin S. Butterfield, (Yale, 1867,) and who taught till 
April, 1868, when Dr. Dibble returned for a term. ]*. Y. 
X. Myers, (Williams, 1867,) taught from Sept., 1868, to July, 
1869. Rev. Lemuel S. Pomeroy, (Hamilton, 1835,) for the 
next year. C. E. Havens, to March, 1S71, and AV. H. Ave- 
ry, duriug the summer term of 1871. The lirst preceptress 
in the Academy, was the late Aliss Lucretia Upham, who 
taught for six quarters in 1815-16. Miss A. M. Cufts, con- 
ducted a Female Department for six months, in 1825, under 
the administration of Mr. Barrows. 

Upon the completion of the new scliool building, and the 
ro-organization of the school, Miss Anne Hoj)kins became 
preceptress for the year 1835-6, assisted a })art of the time 
Ity Miss Mary S. Hascall. Miss Margaret Saylcs taught 
during 1S36-7. Miss Eliza E. Pandall being the music 
teacher. Miss Harriet X. Hand taught from October, 1837, 
to December, 1840. Miss Charlotte Buttriek, taught du- 
ring 1841. 

Miss Elizabeth H. Stone trom January 1, 1842, to April, 
1843. Miss Algenia Knox to April, 1844. Miss Gifling, 
Miss Iloskins and Miss Stella Wliipple had charge of the 
ladies" scliool during the residue of 1844 and 1845, Miss 
Julia E. Reynolds during 1846-7. Miss Maria Doolittlc in 
1848. Mrs. T. K. Wright taught in this department much 



154 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

of the residue of the time while her husband was preceptor 
of the Academy. 

Adelia M. Payson taught in 1853-4. Charlotte A. Birds- 
eye, (Mrs. Harrison V. Miller,) to April, 1855 ; Ellen Ilimt 

to April, 1856; Mary S. Griffith from Sept., 1856 to 

1857; Pamelia Beard, from 1858 to April, 1860. 

Minerva Adams taught from January, 1864, to April, 1864 ; 
Mary A. Birdseye, January to April, 1865 ; Laura J. Reddy 
for the same time in 1866 ; Elizabeth M. Hayden for the 
same time in 1867, and again in 1869 ; Annie Carroll from 
October to December, 1869 ; Clara Pomeroy from Decem- 
ber, 1869, to April, 1870. 

To make here any extended reference to the pupils of th« 
Academy who have since become distinguished in the world,^ 
is impracticable, even if it were proper. It must suffice to 
say that the Academy left its stamp on almost all those who 
have gone forth from the town. Those who were here fitted 
for College, gained high honors in the institutions of tlie 
land. Here, Seabred Dodge became the great mathematician 
and engineer that he was. One of the pupils of this Acade- 
my laid here the foundations of scholarship which made him. 
the first, and almost the only student at West Point, who 
was, throughout his entire course there, the first in every 
study, not' excelled by any of his class in anything. Here 
future Governors learned to govern ; and growing lawyers 
and clergymen, and congressmen and senators acquired that 
knowledge of books and things and men, that mastery ot 
tongue and pen, and that discipline of mind, which fitted 
them lor their places. 

There can be but few among them Avho will not pay the 
tribute of grateful aft'ection and respect to the wise and far- 
sighted men who founded and endowed this institution. 

Consider what they did ! 

Within the first seven years from the settlement of this 

•1 ,erness, while their own dwellings were but log huts, 
wild ' » o ' 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 155 

arid their farms merely narrow clearings in a dense forest, 
where church and school were unknown; when the mill 
that ground their corn was fift}- miles away through woods, 
threaded by a few paths, but without a road, and alive with 
wild beasts and more savage men ; and, above all, in the 
midst of that terrible destitution of money, through which 
the new nation was struggling up from the abyss of bank- 
ruptcy into which it had been cast by the depreciated "Con- 
tinental currency" of the RevoLutionar}' War, Then it was 
fliat they, in a day of small things, put hands that faltered 
not, to a work so great, that its visible benefits have already 
outrun all record and all competition. 

Lasting honor to their memory. 

L. B. 



APPENDIX NO. 1. 

Whereas, the liberal disposed inhabitants of the town of 
Pompey, and other towns in the county of Onondaga, have 
generously contributed, and manv others are disposed to 
contribute, considerable sums of money and other prop- 
erty towards erecting and instituting an academy in 
said Pompey, for the instruction of youth in the lan- 
guages and other branches of useful learning. Of the 
necessity and utility of such an institution every individual 
is concerned. The rapid increase of the population and 
wealth of the county renders such an establishment highly 
necessary and important. The situation fixed upon for 
erecting the academy is nearly central, and for salubrity of 
air and accommodations for the students preferable to any 
other spot in the county. We, therefore, whose names are 
hereunto subscribed and seals affixed, having contributed 
more than one half in value of the real and personal prop- 
erty appropriated for the use and benefit of such academy, 
do request that an academy may be incorporated in said 
Pompey, to be called and distinguished by the name of 
Franklin Academy, subject to the visitation of the trustees 
in this instrument nominated and recommended, nanielv: 



156 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

Ebenezcr Batlcr, Junior, Timothy Jerome, William Stev- 
ens, Jeremiah Gould, I'hineas Howell, Elihu Lewis, Dan 
Bradley, Comfort Tyler, James Knapp, John Lamb, Elijah 
Rust, Deodatns Clark, Hezekiali Olcott, David "Williams, 
Walter Colton, Joseph Smith, James Beebee, John Ividder. 

We, therefore, whose names are hereunto subscribed, do 
i'oi- ourselves and our legal representatives, promise to pay 
for the benefit of said academy, to any person whom the 
trnstees shall appoint to receive the same, the several sums 
annexed to our respective names. 

Pompey, January twenty-lifth, Eighteen liundred. 
Tu the Regents of tit c UnR-crsit>i of the State of New York : 

Eben Butler, Jr UOO L. S. 

Asahel Smith, 125 L. S. 

Johu Kidder, 100 L. S. 

Freeman Lewis, ' 50 L. S. 

George Catlin,_.._ '50 L. S, 

Walter Colton, 100 L. S. 

Hezekiah Olcott 50 L. S. 

Chancey Jerome, 50 L. S. 

Joseph n. Smith, 83 L. S. 

Timothy Jerome, 75 L. S. 

Johu Jerome, 50 L. S. 

Josiah Moore, 25 L. S. 

Joseph Strong, 25 L. S. 

Daniel C. Judd,___ 25 L. S. 

Gad Loveland, 25 L. S. 

James Beebee, 25 L. S. 

Solomon Owen, 50 L. S. 

Reuben Pixley, .Ir 50 L. S. 

Isaiah Olcott, 40 L. S. 

Jonathan Eastman, oO L. S. 

John Fowler, 30 L. S. 

David Williams, 30 L. S. 

Thomas Mighells, 30 L. S. 

Jesse Butler, 50 L. S. 

Salmon Butler, 50 L. S. 



THE POMPEY RE UNION. 157 

(Endorsed.) "Petition Pompej Acadoniy. To 1)0 laid 
before the Reo-cnts." 1800. 



APPENDIX NO. 2. 

Extracts from the minutes of the Begents of the Un/'cersit>j, re- 
let tine/ to Fompey Academy : 

At a meeting of the liegents of the University, hehl in 
the Senate Cham1)er on the 17th March, 1800. Present 
His Excellency, John Jay, Chancellor, Jndge Benson, 
Judge Kent, Mr. DeWitt, Mr. Sylvester, '^Fr. Pupell, \\y. 
YanVechten, Mr. L'llommedien. 

"A Petition from Ebenezer Butler and others, praying ibr 
an incorporation of an Academy in the town of Pompey, in 
the county of Onondaga, was read and committed to Mr. 
Benson and Mr. DeWitt." 

At a meeting held on the 31st day of March, 1800. Pres- 
ent His Excellency John Jay, Chancellor. His Honor, the 
Tjieutenant Governor, Judge Benson, Judge Kent, General 
Schuyler, Mr. Russell, Mr. L'Hommedien. 

"The Board proceeded to the consideration of tlie re])ort 
of the committee to whom was referred the petition for the 
incorporation of an Academy at Pompey in the county of 
Onondaga. And whereas, it is uncertain whether tliat 
place is the most proper place for an Academy in the coun- 
ty of Onondaga, and there is reason to doubt the expediencv 
of having more than one academy in one connt3\ Resolved, 
That the Secretary do transmit a copy of said petition and 
this resolution to the Supervisors of Onondaga county, and 
request that they will at their next meeting intorni the Re- 
gents whether in their opinion there be any and what ob- 
jections to granting the prayer of said Petition.'' 

At a meeting of the Regents, hold February lOth, LSOl. 

" The Petition from the inhabitants of the town of Pom- 
pey, in the county of Onondaga, praying for an incorpo.'ation 
of Academy in said town, received at tlie last session, to- 



158 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

gctber with the proceedings of a meeting of the Supervisors 
of the said county, on the first Tuesday in October last, 
relative thereto, Avas read and referred to Mr. L'Homme- 
(lien, Mr. Cochran and General Schuyler." 

At a meeting of the Regents of tlic University, held pur- 
suant to adjournment in the Senate Chamber, in the city of 
Albany, on Monday the twenty-third day of March, 1801. 

Academies being intended to teach branches of literature 
.superior to those which are taught in common schools, and 
requiring to that end a more extensive provision for the 
support of well qualified instructors, therefore, 

Besolved, That in future, no Academy ought to be incor- 
porated, unless it shall be made to appear by satisfactory 
evidence to this Board, that a proper building for the pur- 
pose hath been erected and finished and paid for, and that 
funds have been obtained and well secured, producing an 
annual net income of at least one hundred dollars. And, 
further, that there be a condition in the charter of incorpo- 
ration that the principal or estate producing the said income 
shall never be diminished, or appropiiated; that the said in- 
come shall he applied only to the maintenance or salaries of 
the Professors or Tutors of the Academy. 

An extract of the minutes. 

Fr. Bloodgood, Sec'y. 

At a meeting of the Regents of the University, held pur- 
suant to adjournment in the Senate Chamber, in the city of 
Albany, on Monday, the 15th day of March, 1802. 

Resolved, That this Board approve of the application of 
sundry inhabitants of the county of Onondaga, for the in- 
corporation of an Academy in the town of Pompey, in the 
faid county, and that this Board will incorporate the same 
upon satisfactory evidence being given within a reasonable 
time of a compliance with the resolution of this Board of 
the 23d day of March, 1801, and that a copy of the said 



I 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 159 

rogolutioii, together with a copy of this resolution, be certi- 
fied by the Secretary, and delivered to the applicants. 

An extract from the minutes. 

Fe. Bloodgood, Sec'y. 

At a meeting of the liegents held in the Senate Cham- 
ber, March 11th, 1811. Present, His Excellency the Gov- 
ernor, Mr. Kent, Mr. Selden, Mr. VanVechten, Mr. Spen- 
cer, Mr. DeWitt, Mr. Clinton, Mr. Jenkins, Mr. Elmendort, 
Mr. Taylor, Mr. Smith. 

" The committee to whom were referred the application 
for the incorporation of an Academy at Pompey, in the 
county of Onondaga, b}' the name and style of Pompey 
Academy, reported that said application ought to be granted. 

Whereupon, Resolved, That the same be approved of, and 
tliat the Secretary cause a charter to be made out for the 
said Acadcmv.'' 



APPENDIX NO. 3. 

'"At a meeting of the Supervisors of the county of Onon- 
daga at l^ompey, on the first Tuesday in October, Eighteen 

hundred. 

The Board proceeded to consider the resolve of the Re- 
gents of the I'niversity, in which the}' requested the opinion 
of the Board whether there be any and what objections to 
granting the prayer of the petition of sundry inhabitants of 
the county of Onondaga, for the incorporation of an Acade- 
my at Pompey, m said county : Noted, 

That in the opinion of this Board there exists no objec- 
tion why the prayer of said petition should not be granted, 
and that the place mentioned in said petition is as suitable 
as any in the county," 

A true extract from the minutes. 

Levi Curtis, Clerk. 
To the Regents of the Unwersity of the State of New York. 
[Endorsed.] 



IGO THE rOMPEY RE-UNIOX. 

"Vote of Supervisors of the county of Onondaga, wliere 
the Academy oiiglit to he phiced." 

Committed to General Schuyler, Mr. Lllominedieii and 
Mr. Cochran."" 



APPEXDIX XO. 4. 

" To the HonQi'ahle Board of Regents of the Unicersitij of the 
State of New York. 

The inhal)itants of the county of Onondaga, humldy 
shcweth, that we, heiiig impressed with the helief of the im.- 
portance of a literarj^ establishment in said county of Onon- 
daga, where the higher and more useful ])ranrhes of litera- 
ture are taught than in common schools, and being con- 
vinced also of Pompey in said county, being the most eligi- 
blp situation in said count}' for such an institution : We, 
under these impressions and beliefs, did in the year 1800, 
present to your Honorable Board a petition praying the in- 
corporation of an Academy in said i*ompey, and vre still 
being of the opinion and belief of the intinite importance 
and utility of an academy in the said county, and also that 
said Pompey is altogether the most proper place in the 
county for said Academ\'. We do, therefore, humbly pray 
that the Honorable Board will take into consideration our 
aforesaid petition, and grant the prayer thereof And your 
petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray. 

Ozias Burr, Daniel Wood, John Lamb, dolm Bowers, Peu- 
ben Pixley, Jr., Gad Loveland, Salmon Butler, Curtis 
Chappel, Joseph Jackson, Moses Lilly, Jr., Samuel Jones, 
Allen Butler, Amasa Wright, Elias Conklin, George Cat- 
lin, Josiah Holbrook, Timothy Cossett, Lsrael Mun, Sal- 
mon Squiro, Selah Cook, Elijah Webb, Nathan Bavis, 
Obed Handy, Haven Webster, Asher Frost, Ebenezer 
Hay, John Willard, Baniel Tibbals, Rupell Clark, Abel 
Bigelow, Orange King, Dix Hoar, Baniel C. Judd, John 
Baar, James Price, E/ra Hart, Meigs Brown, Ezekiel 
Webster, Jolm Fowler, Jonas C. Leland, Harvey Luce, 







'in' '" 'illllillKllliliii Mnii'Ti- i'uii:hs|ij:iyiil;ii!!W^ IH, 



THE POMPEY RE-UNTOX. 161 

James Griffin, Jr., Joseph Mather, Benjamui Butler, Heze- 
kiah Dodge, William Miller, Joseph Shattuck, Joseph 
Luce, Stephen Hayes, Levi Farnham, Isaac Highee, Rod- 
erick Smith, Richard Crocker, AYilliam Howard, James 
Beebee, Epaphs. Emmons, Joseph H. Smitli, Isaac CatUn, 
Isaac Hall, Artemas Bishop. 

[Endorsed.] 

"Petition for an Academy atl^ompey, in Onondaga." '-Ile- 
corded ^[arch 15th, 1802." 



APPENDIX NO. 5. 

This article of agreement, made and concluded this 20tli 
day of July, in the year of our Lord, one thousand, eight hun- 
dred and seven, between William Lathrop and George W. 
Wood, parties of the first part, and !Manoah Pratt, Henry 
Seymour and Samuel S. Baldwin, Committee to build the 
Academy in Pompey, parties of the second part, witnesseth : 
That the said party of the first part for and in consideration 
of the sums hereinafter specified, agree to lay all the floors 
on the lower story, of said Academy ; to make all the inside 
doors and hang them ; to case the windows on said story ; 
to make the bases and sur-bases in the several rooms ; to 
lath the several rooms on said story; to make mantle-tree 
pieces when it is adjudged necessary by the Committee, 
and closets with shelves : to make the tables and benches 
which by said committee shall be adjudged necessary in the 
two large rooms designed for the public school ; an^ to do 
all the joiner work on the lower floor which m necessary to 
finish the said stor}'; the same to be done in a plain, neat, 
strong, workman-like manner. The making the outside 
doors are to be paid for independant of this contract. The 
said parties of the first part further agree to make the stairs 
and stair case in said building, which is to be done in a style 
and manner suitable to the other work done. The mate- 
rials to be furnished by the parties of the second part. The 

work to be done in sufficient time, so that said storv may 

11 ^ 



162 THE rOMPEY RE-UNION. 

he plastered this season, unless the said parties are mate- 
rially delayed on account of materials. And the said par- 
ties ot the second part, for and in consideration of the work 
covenanted to he done, agree to pay to the said parties of 
the tirst part, two hundred dollars, to be paid in obligations, 
which obligations arc to be warranted collectable by the 
said parties of the second, and turned out to the said parties 
of the tirst part, when the above work is done; the said obli- 
gations to be due at the time they are turned out to the said 
parties of the second part. 

In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands and 
seals, the day and year above written. 

Sealed and delivered in the })rcsence of Henry J. Baldwin. 

WiM. Latiirop, [l. s.] 
G. AV. Wood, [l. s.] 

For the Committee, S. S. Baldwin, [l. s.] 

Agreed this 2d day of March, 1810, to relinquish the un- 
finished part of the within mentioned job, and lo accept of 
one hup.dred and forty dollars, in full of what has been done. 
.h514i). AVm. Latiirop. 



APPENDIX NO. C. 

This indenture or article of agreement made between 
Henry Seymour, Samuel S. Baldwin and Manoah Pratt, of 
the one part, and the several other persons whose names are 
hereto subscribed, witnesseth, that the said Henry, Samuel 
S. and' Manoah, do hereby agree to procure the Academy in 
Pompey to be finished and completed for the sum of four 
hundred and fifty dollars. And the said other persons whose 
names are hereto subscribed, hereby severally bind them- 
selves, in consideration of the said undertaking, to pay the 
several sums annexed to our names respectively, to the sai<l 
Hcnr}', Samuel S. and Manoah, in our obligations for the saie'^ 
several sums, to be payable on demand, and to be given on 
or before the first day of October, 1810. Provided that ho 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 163 

person shall be bound b}- this subscription, unless the said 
snni of four hundred and fifty dollars shall be subscribed 
hereto. Witness our hands and seals at Pompej; and we, 
the said Henry, Samuel S. andManoah, do a^ree to pay the 
several sums annexed to our names, towards and as a part 
of the said sum of fmr hundred and fifty dollars. 

Xathaniel Baker, §30 L. S. 

Rec'tl note for this. Or. S5 in full of Mr. Baker. 

James Wiggins^ Jr. joiners' work, .$20 

Paid l>y discount with D. Wood. 

Ephraim liond, |25 L. S. 

Rec'dnotcfor$25. 

Joseph Bennett, §20 

Rec'd note for?_'0. 

Maroviu Marsli, §15 L. fcS. 

Kcc'd note f<.ir SI"). 

Augustus "Wheaton, §30 L. S. 

Rec'd note for $;D0. 

V. Birdseye, §20 L. S.^ 

Endorsed on Wood's contract with Committee. 

Ivlisha Smith, §10 L. S. 

Kcc'd note for SIO. 

Chester Coe, §10 L. S. 

Rec'd note forSlO. 

Timothy ITateh, §10 L. S. 

Rec'd note for $10. 

Seymour Coe, §10 

Rec'd note forSlO. 

Joseph M. Bostwick, §10 L. S. 

Endor.sEd on Wood's Contract. 

James Chappcll, §10 L. S. 

Rec'd So. Rec'd note for&5. 

Leonard Hoar, §10 L. S. 

Rct''d note for SIO. 

-lames Carr, §10 

Chai-g'd J. Cowan, II. Seymour's Book. 

Abr. Plaunt, §10 L. S. 

Rec'd note for SIO. 

Nathan Williams, §10 

Rec'd Ca^h in full, Cr. on II. Seymour's Books to Academy. 

Titus Marsh, §10___-___ 

Paid to Bald. 

James Tolman, §10 L. S. 

Rec'd D. Wood's Receipt. 



164 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

Chester Howard, in blacksmith work, SlO L. S. 

In Note. 

David Hiiie, §10 L. S.. 

Paid. 

Luther Marsh, SIO L. S. 

Rec'd note for S;0. 

Aaron C. Hoar, §20 

Aaron C. Hoar has paid D. W., ten dolls, same endorsed on Contract with E. W., thi- 
Committe, March 12. 1811. Attest, V. B. Remainder charg'donH. Scyinonr's ac-'t. 

Henry Seymour will advance one hundred dolls, on 
condition of collecting it on old subscription, L. S. 

Samuel S. Baldwin will advance twenty-live dollars, on 
condition of collecting it on old subscription, L, S. 

Chare'd to S. S. B. in H. Seymour's Books, April, 181-^. 

Allen "W. Heyden $10 in wood work to H. Seymour_^L. S. 
Stephen Hall has given his note for ten dollars, »$10 L. S. 

Due on this subscription $5, March, 1811. including notes. 

James Higgins, - S2U 00 

Victory Birdseye, 20 00 

James Carr, 10 00 

:N'athan Williams, 10 00 

Titus Marsh, 10 00 

A. C. Hoar, 20 00 

H. Seymour, 100 00 

S.S.Baldwin, 25 On 

A. W. Heyden, 10 00 

Stephen Hall, 10 00 

L. Marsh, 10 00 

Chester Howard, 10 00 

Abr. Flaunt, 10 00 

Leonard Hoar, Jr., 8 00 

Seymour Coe, 10 00 

Chester Coe, _•— _ 10 00 

MaroviaMarsh, 15 00 

Jasper .Bennett, 20 00 

Kath. Baker, 24 40 

Dan. Wood rec't.__^ — — _ 5 00 

do do do 54 



THE POMPEY EE-UNIOX. 16-5 

APPENDIX IsO. 7. 

Walter Colton, of the town and county of Ononda^-aand 
State of isow York, being dnl}' sworn, deposeth and saith, 
that ho was an inhabitant of, and resided in the town of 
Ponipey, in the conntj aforesaid, at the time a petition was 
in eircuhition addressed to the Regents of the University of 
the' State of XeAv York, purporting to be irom the inhabi- 
tants of the county of Onondaga; that he saw Jolin Kidder 
set tlie names of a considerable number of persons to said 
petition without their knowledge or consent, as the said 
Kidder then said. That the said Kidder then applied to 
this deponent to set the names of other persons to said pe- 
tition, so that the names might not appear to be in one 
hand-wriling : Tliat this deponent declined setting the 
names of persons to said petition, believing it to be improp- 
er. That the said Kidder then aj-plicd to Hezekiah Olcott, 
who set the names of a number more to said petition, but 
the exact number set by the said Kidder or Olcott, this de- 
ponent does not recollect. And this deponent saith that he is 
acquainted with the persons who subscribed money to build 
an Academy in said Pompey. That several of the princi- 
pal subscribers have since left the county. That Hezekiah 
Olcott has since died insolvent. That a considerable num- 
l>er more arc in the opinion of this deponent wholly unable 
to pay the sums by them subscribed. And this deponent 
tiu'ther saith, that he hath heard several of the subscribers 
w'ho are able to pay, say that they were determined not to 
pay the sums by them subscribed, if the v can avoid it. And 
tins deponent, further saith not. 

Walter Coltox. 

Sworn betbre me this 2d day of March, 1802. 

Medad Curtis, 

Master in Chancery. 

(Endorsed,) 

"■Aff't of Walter Colton, respecting the subscription for 
an Academy at Pompey." " Rec'd March 15, 1802." 



166 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. ' 

APPENDIX NO. 8. 

This Article of Agrceriieiit, made this 25th day of July. 
1810, between Heury Seymour, Samuel S. Baldwiti and 
Manoah Pratt, of the one part, and the several other per- 
sons whose names are liereunto subscribed, 

Witnesseth, That the several other persons whose names 
are hereunto subscribed, do covenant, each for himself, witli 
said Henry, Samuel S. and Manoah, that we, the said sub- 
scribers, within six months from the date hereof, will give 
and execute unto said Samuel, Henry and Manoah, our sev- 
eral bonds, conditioned to pay the several sums annexed to 
our names hereunto subscribed, in the penalty of double the 
said suras so subscribed, with interest on said conditions, 
payable annually at seven per cent., to be payable on de- 
mand ; but with a proviso in said bond, that so long" as the 
interest shall be perpetually paid, the principal shall not be 
sued for or collected, and that we also will give oiir separate 
mortgages to the said Henry, Samuel S. and Manoah, as 
collateral securities of the said bonds, on good real proper- 
ty, unencumbered, of at least double the value of the said 
several sums, situated within the County of Onondaga. 
And we, the said Henry, Samuel S. and Manoah, do hereby 
covenant with the said several subscribers separately, that 
we will hold this subscription and the said several bonds 
and mortgages, in trust for, and for the sole use, benefit and 
behoof of the Academy in Pompey; and that, so soon as 
the said Academy shall be incorporated, Ave, the said Sam- 
uel S., Henry and Manoah, will transfer, assign and set over 
to the said corporation this subscription and covenant, and 
also all mortgages and bonds that may or shall be given in 
pursuance hereof, and will also pay over to said corporation 
all sum or sums of money that may or shall be collected or 
received on this subscription, or on any bond or mortgage 
to be given in pursuance hereof. This subscription being 
for the purpose of raising and securing a fund for the sup- 
port of said institution, and securing the same on real pro- 
erty. It is understood that interest is to he computed from 
July 28th, 1811. 



THE POMPEY HE UNION. 167 

Asa Wells, Fifty Dollars L. S. 

Manoali Pratt, One Hundred Dollars L. S. 

John Jerome, Fifty Dollars L. S. 

Henry Seymour, One Hundred Dollars L. S. 

Samuel S. Baldwin, Fifty Dollars L, S. 

Daniel Wood, Fifty Dollars L. S. 

Nathaniel Baker, Fifty Dollars L. S. 

Chaneey Jerome, Fifty Dollars L. S. 

Daniel Tibbals, Fifty Dollars L. S. 

Ebenezer Carr, Fifty Dollars L. S. 

Charles Morris, Twenty-Five Dollars L. S. 

John Marsh, Twenty-Five Dollars L. S. 

Marovia Marsh, Fifty Dollars L. S. 

Stephen Tiffany, Twenty-Five Dollars L. S. 

Joseph Bennett, Fifty Dollars L. S. 

Conrad Bush,_ Fifty Dollars L. S. 

Timothy Hatch, Twenty-Five Dollars L. S. 

Elisha Smith, Fifty Dollars L. S. 

Daniel Gillett, Twenty-Five Dollars L. S. 

I will give my bond according to the above sub- | 
scription, but no mortgage, for Thirtv Dollars. 

"v. Birdseye.J _L. S. 

Leonard Hoar, Jr., Twenty-Five Dollars L. S. 

Aaron C. Hoar, Twenty-Five Dollars L. S. 

Ozias Wright, Twenty-Five Dollars L. S. 

Isaac Hall, Fifty Dollars L. S. 

Silas Park, Fifty Dollars L. S. 

True W. Cook, Fifty Dollars L. S. 

Lemuel Cook, Twenty-Five Dollars L. S. 

Hezekiah Dodge, Twenty-Five Dollars L. S. 

Amos Abbott, Tw^enty-Five Dollars L. S> 

Joseph Sacket, ^ Twent^'-Five Dollars L. S. 

Zadoc Seymour, Twenty-Five Dollars L. S. 

Jacobus DePuy, Tw^enty-Five Dollars L. S. 

Henry Tiffany, Twenty-Five Dollars L. S. 

Ithamer Coe, Fifty Dollars L. S. 

Sylvanus Bishop, Twenty-Five Dollars L. S. 



16S THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

Hezekiuh Clai-k,_ Fifty Dollars L. H. 

Samuel Diinliani, TAventy-Five Dollars L. S. 

Artemas Bishop, Twenty-Five Dollars L, vS. 

Elijali AVclls,___ Twenty-Five Dollars L. S. 

Timothy Xorthrop, Twent\' Dollars L. S. 

Abraham X orthrop, Twenty iJollars L. S. 

Gideon Morley, Twenty-Five Dollars L. y, 

Charles Sweet, Twenty Dollars L. S. 

SamuelJohnson, ._Twenty-Five DollarsJ L. S. 

Elijah Owen, Fifty Dollars L. S. 

Timothy Oossit. Twenty-Five Dollars L. S. 

William Cook, One Hundred Dollars L. S. 

OziasBurr, One Hundred Dollars L. S, 

James Lankton, Twenty-Five Dollars L. S. 

SamuelAYright, Twenty-Five Dolhirs L. S. 

Leonard Lincoln, Twenty Dollars L. S. 

Ephriam Cleveland Twenty-Five Dollars L. S. 

Lewis Kuod Twenty Dollars L. S. 

1 au'ree ti) give my bond on the above condition. | 
but no mortgage, for Twenty-Five Dollars. 

Fphriam Bond. ) . L. S. 

Levi Chase, Twenty-Five Dollars L. S. 

TitusMarsh, ____J^rty Dollars I.. S. 

James Carr, Twenty-Five Dollars L. S. 

Josiah Holbrook, Twenty-Five Dollars I^. S. 

Jonathan Stanley, Jr.,____ Fifty Dollars __ 1.. S.. 

Augustus AVhcaton, Fifty Dollars _ . L. S. 

Joseph Ibish Fifty Dollars Lv 8. 



APPENDIX NO. !». 
To-thc Jloiion/Oh', the Board of Ikfiejits of the U)ia'(i'.'<>f>i of ihe 
■ State of Xiti: Yorl:. 

The petition of the several persons whose names are here- 
unto subscribed, inhabitants of the county of Onondaga, 
humbly shewi'th : That being desirous to facilitate the edu- 
cation ol youth in the languages and other l)ranchesof use- 
ful learning, and being convinced that the establishment of 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 109 

ail Academy at Pompcy in said county, would greatly pro- 
mote so iisefal a design, 3-our petitioners have at great ex- 
pense procured a suitable sit ' for an institution of that 
kind, consisting of two acres of land near the centre of said 
town, and erected a large and commodious Ijuilding for that 
purpose : that the Ijuilding is forty hy lifty feet on the 
ground, two stories high and completely hnished and paint- 
ed, inside and out, and paid for. Your petitioners have al- 
so procured a fund of one thousand, four hundred and fifty 
dolhirs to he subscribed for thepurposc! of prod'-icing a net 
annual income tor the support of the said instit';tion, and 
that the same is well secured to Samuel S. Baldwin, Henry 
Seymour and Manoah I'ratt, as trustees, for the sole use of 
said academy, at an annual interest of seven per cent; and 
that said Samuel S., Henry and ^lanoah have become ol)li- 
gated t() transfer the said securities to tlie said academy 
when the sanie shall lie incorporated. 

'^'lUir petitioners furth"r represent that they lia\'e been 
encouraged to go to so considerable an expense by a resolu- 
tion of the Board of the liegents, of the ir)th day of March, 
l^-^O^, l)y which the Hoard were pleased to resolve that they 
approved ot" tiie appl'cations of sundry inhabitants of the 
eninty of Onondaga, for the incorporation of an academy 
in the town of Pom[>jy, and that the said Board would in- 
corporate the s;inie upon satisfacto y cx'idenec being given 
within a reasonahl-e time of a comi>liance \vitli sirul' resc^lu- 
tionof said r)oard of t!ie twenty-third day of March, 1801. 
Your petitioners belie\c that they have now eomplicd with 
the above mentioned resolution of the twenty-third ofMarch, 
IS'Ol : and wlien the ditHculties attending so consideral)le a 
publie unde-taking, in an interior part of the county, and 
ii: 0!ie so lately an entire wihlerness, and when the general 
pecuniary embarrassments of the county for some time past, 
are duly considered, your i)Ctitioners believe that the com- 
pliance with that resolution has been as speedy as could 
reaso!ud)ly have l^een expected, 

'^'our petitioners further represent that the several per- 



170 THE POMPEY UE-UNIOX. 

sonswlioso names are hereto subscribed, have contrilinted 
more than one half in vahie of the real and personal estate 
collected and appropriated for the use and Ixnietit of s;ud 
institution. 

WJierefore, your petitioners request that the said Aeade- 
niy may be incorporated, and he subject to the visitation of 
the Regents of the University of tlie State of Xew York, 
and they nominate for the lirst trustees of the said Acade- 
my, the following persons, to-\vit : Henry Seymour, Senior 
Trustee, and Samuel S. Baldwin, Daniel Wood, Manouh 
Pratt, Ithamar Coe, Asa Wells, llezekiah Clark, .lohn Je- 
rome, Silas Park, Jacobus DePuy, Daniel Allen, Chancy Je- 
rome, Daniel Tibbals, Joshua Johnson, Derrick C. Tjansing, 
Benjamin Sanford, Charles C. Moseley, William J. Wilcox, 
Johnathan Stanley, Junior, Levi Parsons, William Cook, 
Victory Birdseye, Jasper Hopper, James Geddes : -Nvhich 
persons we pray may be incorporated by the naiiie, style and 
<lescription of "Pompey Acadenu'," with a condition in the 
act of incorporation that the said principal sum of the said 
fuud shall never be diminished or appropriated, and that 
the income of the said principal fund shall be applied only 
to the maintenance or salaries of the professors or tutors 
of the said Academ\'. 

As, witness our hands and seals this 11th February, in the 
year ol" our Jjord, one thousand, eight hundred and eleven 

Amasa Wright, L. S. 

Daniel Wood, L. S. 

Norris Case, L. S. 

Geo. Catlin, L. S. 

llezekiah Clark, ]j. S 

Silvanus Bishop, L. S. 

Artemus Bishop, 1^. S. 

Henry Seymour, L. S. 

Victory Birdseye, L. S. 

Elijah Wells, L. S. 

Asa Wells L. S. 



THE POMPEY PtE-UNION. 171 

Nathaniel Baker, L. S. 

Titns Rust, L. ^. 

Daniel Tibbals, L. S. 

James Carr, L. S. 

Jeremiah Butler, L, S. 

Daniel C. Judd, L. S. 

John Jerome, L. S. 

Aaron C. Hoar, L. S. 

Timothy Northrup, L. S. 

Conrad Bu8h,_ ._^ li. S. 

Hezekiah Lathrop, L. S. 

Chancy Jerome, L, S. 

Jasper Bennett, L. S. 

Wm. Cook, L. S. 

I'jbenezer Carr, L. S. 

Josiah Ilolbrook, L, S. 

Charles Morris, L. S. 

Allyn Iledcres, L. S. 

Ilezekiah Hopkins, L. S. 

John Marsh, L. S. 

Manoah Pratt, L. S. 

TrueW. Cook, L. S. 

Levi Jerome,, L. S. 

Jesse Butler, L. S. 

EyA'n Hart, L. S. 

Johnathan Stanley, Jun., L. S. 

Xathan AYilliams, L. S. 

Jos. W. Gould, L. S. 

Ithamer Coe, L. S. 

Lemuel Cook, L. S. 

AVm. Lathrop, L. S. 

[Salmon Butler, L. S. 

ApollosKing, L. S. 

Ichabod Lathrop, L. S. 

Stephen TifFnay, i^ L. S. 

Augustus Wheaton, , L. S. 

Abel Olcott, L. S. 



172 THE POMl'EY RE-UJ^IO^^ 

Thomas Olcott, L. S. 

Solomon Owen, ^ L. S. 

Enoch Wilcox, L. S. 

Joseph Brush „ L. S. 

-zf Jahersia Castle L. S. 

' James Lankton, L. S. 

James Higgins, L. S. 

Joseph Mather, L, S. 

HcnrvTifthay „^ L. S. 

Levi Chase - L. S. 

Ivobert Swartmont, L.~8. 

Daniel Hubbard L. S. 

Chester Coe, L. S. 

Moses Lilly, L. S. 

Samuel S. Baldwin, L. S. 

Onondaga ss : Henry Seymour being duly sworn, saith, 
that he hath examined the statement of facts set forth in the 
above petition, and that he believes the same to be true, and 
further says not. 

Henry SeYxMour. 

Sworn belore me this second day of March, A. D., 1811. 

Daniel Wood, Justice Peace. 



APPENDIX KG. 10. 

I\c})Oii of the fraslics of Pompcji Aeadem}j for 1817. 

To the Kegents of the University of the State of New 
York. 

The Funds of the Academy consist of the Academy lot 
and building, estimated at ^5,(>0<> 

Personal Estate, " 2,50(1 

Apparatus and Library, estimated at 150 

Real Estate, being one lot in Caniillus, 5,920 



Amount, §13,570 

The teachers are Rev. Joshua Leonard with salary of .^6IK> 
Gott " 30t) 



THE POMPEY KE-UNION, 173 

The students numl)er now 152; of wlioni 14 study tlie 
learned languages ; of the higher brandies of the Mathe- 
matics, and the others Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, 
English Grammar, Geography, Belles Lettres, kc. 

Remarks. 1. The building is of wood, oO feet by 40 ; 
t^vo stories high, and divided into seven rooms, viz : One 
40 feet square for an Exhibition Room ; two 40 by 15, for 
School Rooms, and four 10 by 15 for study rooms, all of 
which, except the Exhibition Room, have fire places. Be- 
sides which, each of the long rooms have stoves. 

2. The Real Estate consists of one lot of land, which lies 
in Camillus, in the county of Onondaga. This lot has been 
contracted to be sold at different prices from 9 to 10 dol- 
lars per acre, and the contracts obligate the purchasers to 
pay the annual interest and instalments towards the princi- 
pal, until one half of the principal shall l)e paid, then the 
purchasers to have a deed, and give a bond and mortgage. 

3 The Personal Estate consists of Bonds and Mortgages, 
and covenants to give bond and mortgages, on interest at 
7 per cent., payable on the 28th of January, annually. 

4. Prices of tuition are : For reading and writing, )j?1.50. 
English Grammar !$2.50 ; Arithmetic, Geography, Logic, 
Rhetoric and Belles Lettres, |3 ; Mathematics, Natural 
and Moral Philosophy and other learned languages, §4 per 
quarter. 

5. The Apparatus consisting of one pair of Globes, 12 
inches in diameter, and two large stoves with pipe, and oth- 
er articles of furniture for the school rooms. 

G. Average price of board is $2. 

7. The tuition is estimated at 600 dollars. 

8. The benefits of the Institution are uniformly extended 
to families which are unable to pay the tuition. 

Dated at Pompey, in the county of Onondaga, A, Dom. 

1818. 



list Oil 0f TQiWI Of f OMPIY. 



t'oHfaiitluf/ Account of Settlements and Tniproveinenti<, its 
Geoff i'aj>hical Features, a History of the MiJit'arij 
Tract, tC'c, <€*c., Edited and Compiled hy 
Hhenezer liutler, Member of Pub- 
lication Committee. 



GEOGPAPHIC FEATURES. 

r.Y ir. I). I,. SWKET. 

That portion of the State of New York, comprised in the 
originul township of Porapey, hiy between the parallels 42*^, 
51', and 42°, 59', 20", north latitude, and between meridi- 
ans 75°, 54', 13", and 70°, 11', 58", west longitude from 
Greenwich. 

Tlie present township lies between parallels 42°, 51', 20", 
and 42°, 59', 20", north latitude, and between meridians 
75°, 54', 13", and 76°, 4', 52", west longitude. Pompey 
Academy being located 42°, 54', 5", north latitude, and 76°, 
1', 2", west longitude from Greenwich. "■= 

The name given by the Indians to this region was Otc-f/c- 
Vrt;/rt-Ar, a place of much grass, openings or prairies. An- 
other name given to this locality, not often repeated, and 
about which there is much superstitious resource, is Oic- 
queh-sah-he-eh, the Held of blood, a place where many have 
been slain. (See State Gazetteer.) 

Pompey is a part of the ISIilitary Tract, and was desig- 
nated as township IsTo. 10, on Surveyor-GeneraPs maps of 
surveys. On Saturday, 3d day of July, 1790, it received 

*We arc indebted to S. W. Clark, of Syracuse, who, from survey, has given us the de- 
crees of latitude and longitude. 



THE POJIPEY PtE-UNION, 175 

from the Commissioners of the Land Otticc, in New York 
City, the name it now bears. It was iirst given a municipal 
government as a part of Onondaga County, by Legislative 
enactment, in the year of 1794, in following words: — "All 
that part of the said County of Onondaga, comprehending 
the townships of Pompey, Tully and Fabius, together with 
that part of the lands called ' The Onondaga Reservation,' 
])Ounded northerly by the road leading through the said 
Reservation, commonly called the Genesee road, and west- 
erly by the Onondaga Creek, shall be and hereby is erected 
into a town by tlic name of Pompey." By subsequent 
Legislation, the boundaries of the township, as then fixed, 
have, (in the years 17'J8, in 1806 andin 1825,) been changed, 
its ])resent boundaries being: — x^ortli by town of DeWitt 
and Manlius ; east l)y the county of Madison ; south by tlie 
town of Fabius : west hy LaFayette. 

The township is located upon the great dividing ridge, 
from Avhicli the waters flow north to the valley of tlie St. 
Lawrence, and south to the Chesapeake Bay. 

This great ridge is divided within the township limits, by 
four great valleys. The first on the east, is on the east line 
of the township, cutting entirely across it, and with but 
very little inclination. The stream, the east branch of the 
Limestone Creek, which liows through it, has but few mill 
scats on its entire length. 

The second valley lies about three miles west, and nearly 
parallel: has a greater inclination, and, although the valley 
extends cntirel}' across the township, a portion of the water 
floirs to tlic soutli! The stream which iloA\'s north, lias at one 
place a fall of lo7 feet, perpendicular, (I'ratt's Falls,) and is 
feuite rapid in all its course. 

The third, or the Butternut Creek Y,alley, lies nine miles 
west of the east line, within the limits of the township, and 

has but little foil. 

The fourth, or Onondaga Valley, lies .'ibout four miles 
cast of the western boundary, and four miles from Butter- 



170 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

nut Creek Valley, and within the limits of the township 
lias fall sufficient only for two or three water powers. 

The greater portion of the townsliip lies on three, a small 
portion however, on a fourth, of hills or ridges, the axis of 
whicli are nearly due north and south. 

The first, or the one on the east, has an altitude of nearly 
1,200 feet above tide water, or <S00 feet above the level of 
the Erie Canal, at Syracuse. 

The second attains an altitude of 1,743 feet above tide 
water. This point is in the cemetery at Pompe}- Hill. 

The third attains, near the village of Lafayette, an eleva- 
tion of from 1,400 to 1,500 feet. 

Tlie fourth, or Bear Mountain, is but little less in altitude 
than Pompey Hill. 

The slopes of all these, except the last named, are not 
steep, and were originally covered with a heavy growth of 
timber — mostly deciduons trees. 

Carpenter's Pond, which lies in the second valley, and 
from which the water flows south, is the only natural body 
of water. 

Swamps are few and small; as also are gulfs and ravines. 
There are not, it is probable, 1,200 acres of the 60,000 in 
the original township, that may not be cultivated. 

The soil is chiefly a clayey loam. Eighty years tillage 
has proved it of excellent quality. 

In the nortliern part, a small quantity of limestone shovvs 
at the surface. 

The surface, however, is generally underlaid by the Ham- 
ilton group of shC^les, while upon tlie extreme highest por- 
tions, Genesee slate is found. 

The climate is subject to sudden changes, and is particu- 
larized by high winds: the average temperature is lower by 
3S degrees, than the general average of the State. In the 
village of Pompey, on Pompey Hill, the wind often blows 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 177 

with terrific violence. The cool l)reeze.s of summer render 
this localit}^ a remarkably pleasant one for those, who, 
through the warmest months of the year, seek relief from 
the oppressive heat of the city and valleys below. But the 
high winds of winter make it at times a situation most un- 
favorable for comfort or pleasure. 

Although the annual temperature of this section is found 
to be lower than the general average of the State, and veg- 
etation is uniformly Ijackward, yet the robin appears here 
earlier, and the autumnal frosts are later than in many 
other sections. 

This is one of the most healthy, as it is one of the lugltasf 
I'nhabitafed portions of the State. 

The natural scenery is rarely equalled. The vision, from 
one stand point on Pompey Hill, is uninterrupted, being 
l)Ounded by the horizon at every point of tiie compass, and 
embracing views in seven different counties.''' 

The landscape consists of hill and dale, placid lakes, dot- 
ted with sail, meandering streams, villages, forests, culti- 
vated fields, beautiful farm houses, steam car, together w^itli 
the beautiful cit}', and its hum of busy life. 

Within tlie present limits of the towui there are five vil- 
lages containing Post Offices, viz : — Pompc}- Hill, Pompey 
Centre, ])elphi, Oran and AYatervale. 

There are flouring mills at Pratt's Falls and at Watervale, 
two manufiicturies of edge tools, one near Delphi, Samp- 
son's on east branch of Limestone Greek, and one. Wood's,, 
on west branch of Limestone : formerly there was, as will 
be remembered by many old residents, a woolen mill four 
miles north of Delphi, one-half the way between Oran and 
Delphi. 

Population of the town in 187'), was three thousand, 
three hundred and sixty. 

•■■•Onondaga, Cortland, Herkimer, Madi-on, O^wogo, Oneida and Caynfa. 

12 



178 THE POMPEY r.E-UNION. 

SETTLEMENT AND IMPROVEMENTS. 



POMPEY HILL AXD VICINITY. 

The township of Poinpey obtained great celebrity abroad 
at a vciy early period, and was principally settled by people 
from Xew England, many ot whom took up their residence 
here while the township was a part of the town of Mexico, 
Herkimer County. 

The first white settler in the town of Porape}' was Mr. 
John Wilcox; he came in 1780 from Oneida, in company 
with an Indian Chief, for the purpose of exploring the coun- 
try. He made a settlement near an Indian orchard, which 
was located about two miles north of the present site of 
Lata^'ctte viUage. (For these and farther particulars rela- 
tive to his settlement, see Clark's Onondaga, vol. 2d, page 
241.) 

The first settlement made within the limits of the present 
township, was made at Pompey Hill, by Ebenezer Butler, 
who originally came from Ilarwington, Conn., to Clinton, 
Oneida County, in the year 1788 or 0: remaining in Clin- 
ton till 1701, he left and came, guided by marked trees, to 
this place, and settled on lot 63, which tradition says, "he 
• bought of a soldier for a horse, saddle and bridle."^ He erected 
his first, a log house, near wliero is now " the Stone Black- 
smith Shop."" and near to the spring Avhich supplies the 
watering tul) in the present village. Here in the same yeai", 
1701, he moved his lamily, consisting of his wife, four chil- 
dren, his father and a maiden sister. 

The following year, 1702, his brother, Jesse Butler, came 
fF'om Connecticut, and buying 100 acres of him, on the 
north half of his lot, made a small clearing and put up a log 
house on a knoll about 30 rods north of the present site of 
the M. E, Church. He returned to Connecticut in the fall, 
and in the month of April, 1703, in company with George 
Catlin and their familes, on an ox sled, came back and made 
this his residence. ^Iv. Catlin, having bought of his broth- 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 179 

er-in-law, Ebeuezer Butler, Jr., 100 acres, near the south 
side of his, (Butler's) section, settled on the same, and af- 
terwards kept the first tavern that was opened in this vicin- 
ity. His house was located a little south of the one lately 
occupied by Judge Asa Wells. 

Jacob Hoar came from Onondaga in the spring of 1793, 
and settled on lot 48, near a spring of Avater, at the first four 
^jorners on the road leading from the vilUige of Pompey to 
Jamesville. 

Here, afterwards, about 1800, was found something of a 
viUage, named Log CUu, which grew to contain ultimatel}^, 
a store and ashery, owned by Justice Fowler, (uncle to O. 
1>. Fowler, of ISTew York,) a shoe shop and tannery, a turn- 
ing lathe, a school house, together with a respectable num- 
ber of settlers Log City and the Hill were, for a time, 
rival settlements. 

In the year 1794, Messrs. Jerome & Smith came from 
Massachusetts and settled on lot number 85, which is the 
lot first Init one, south of tliat on which the Butlers had 
settled. 

In 1797, Kbenezer Butler, Jr., or, as he was afterwards 
more familiarly known, Judge Butler, built the 1\vAi framed 
liouse that was raised in the vicinit}^ of Pompey Hill. Tliis 
v\'as located on the west side of what is now the public 
spuire, and on the present site of Hon. Manoah Pratt's 
dwelling, formerly Ilandy's tavern. The next year, 1798, 
he erected for his father a house, on the present site of the 
wagon shop so long owned and occupied by Joseph Beach. 
In the same year, his brother, Jesse Butler, built a frame 
liouse on the site where the M. E. Church now stands. 

Ou the corner where the public house is now standing, 
Truman Lewis had, before 1800, built a small frame house 
and opened a tavern. From that day till this, there has 
been a house of entertainment kept in that place. A part 
of the house located near the Disciple's Church, and when 
taken down a few years since was owned by Mrs. Orr, was 



180 THE POMPEY RE-UNIOX, 

a part of the house built by Mr. Lewis, aud, together with 
part ot the frame of Mr. Pratt's house, (Handy's tavern,) 
and a barn situated on the place so long occupied by Cal- 
vin Dean, are the oldest frames recently standing in the 
village, or this locality. 

North from the village, on the Pompc}- and Manlius road, 
near the barn on the land owned by David King, was locat- 
ed JSTathan Davis. From him the farm passed to Victory 
Birdseye, Esq.; thence to Ansel Jones: thence to Mr. Geo. 
E. Wells; and. thence to David King. A gentleman by the 
name of Mills, a tailor by trade, lived north of Davis, on 
the knoll by the "old thorn tree." 

Farther north, and next neighbor, on a iifty acre lot, set- 
tled John Bars, a Hessian, one of the thousand taken pris- 
oner by Washington, at Trenton, in 1776. Bars remained 
for a time ; he sold to Mr. Anger, from whom the farm has 
passed successively, to Capt. Ebenezer Carr, to Messrs. 
Smitli, Handy, Wicks, Wells and to its present owner, Da- 
vid King. 

The next farm north was owned by the Lillys, who re- 
sided at the foot of the hill, near JNIr. Wells' house. And, 
on the top of the hill they built a blacksmith shop, and were 
for a long time the only, as the}) were the first blacksmiths 
who carried on this business in the localit}'. 

On the farm now owned by Kandolph Beard, and where 
he resides, was located as early as 1800, Mr. Orsemus Bow- 
ers. Before this date it had been owned by one Bond, who 
also worked at blacksmithing. From Mr. Bond the farm 
passed to Capt. Carr, and to Beach Beard, father to present 
owner. 

Mr. Orsborn, a carpenter, and the first in the place, settled 
on the farm formerly owned and occupied by Augustus AV. 
Chappell. Mr. Orsborn sold to Mr. Fisher, who sold to Mr. 
Chappell's father, from whom it passed to the son. First 
north from Mr. Chappell, on hill opposite stone quarry, was 
one Foster. At the four corners, beyond, was first located 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 181 

James and Samncl Curry. They sold to " The M'Kecvers." 
Augustus AYheaton afterwards came into possession, buying, 
we think, of McKeever. Between Foster and Curiy on 
west side of road, was Mr. AVhite, who married a sister of 
Jacob Hoar. 

At a hiter day than 1800, Morton Bostwickwas settled, 
on corner opposite Augustus Wheaton, On the place now 
owned by Jas. VanBrocklin, first settled Mr. Sandiman Cul- 
ver, who sold to Mr. Jakway, from whom it passed to Jas- 
per Bennett, to Isaac Wicks and to Mr. Van Brocklin. 
Where jSTicholas VanPatten now resides, Jacob Hoar settled. 
His first house however, was on the side west of the road, 
near to a spring of water, as it was the aim of the earl}^ set- 
tlers to locate at or near a spring, that water could easily "be 
obtained. The first well that was dug in the village, was by 
Truman Lewis, and has since been filled. 

Wliere now lives Messrs. Cramer Johnson and Eli An- 
derson, were located two brothers, Abel and Thos. Orcutt, 
and on the farm of Hiram Butts, lived Daniel Webster. 
Obed Handy lived on the farm of Ira Anderson, whose 
grandfather bought of Handy. 

Mr. Timothy^Cossitt, Sen., lived on the tarm, so long 
ovrned by his son Calvin Cossett. Benjamin Butler and his 
son Salmon, settled opposite the farm so long owned by 
Rensselaer Johnson. The}' owned at first the farm of Mr. 
Johnson, and sold to his father, Rufus Johnson, who mar- 
ried Mary, sister of Judge Butler. 

The Butlers sold to Ami Butler, son of Benjamin, a farm, 
which forms a part of that now owned by Mr. Doolett. Ami 
settled near where is now Mr. Doolett's house. Across 
from Butler's, Dea. Ezra Hart made a settlement. His 
house took fire from some cause, and burned to the ground, 
the Deacon loosing nearly every article of furniture and 
wearing apparel he possessed. He afterwards built anoth- 
er house, and after occupying it a few years, sold it to Jesse 
Butler, who occupied it till about 1847 or 8. 



182 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

Dr. Walter Colton, the first resident physician, settled on 
the farm, and had at that time, a house situated a little north 
of the one now owned hy Geo. Wells. He sold to Edward 
Boylston, a silver-smith, who for a time carried on his trade 
in that place ; Boylston sold to Rev. Hugh Wallace, one of 
the first settled ministers of the Presbyterian church. It is 
just to remark, that Kev. Mr. Gilbert, who settled near where 
Mr. Albert Butterfield lived, and where Mr. Blair now lives, 
was at Pompey, and preached to the settlers before the set- 
tlement of Mr. Wallace, which occurred in 1801. So was 
also a Mr. Williston, 1798. Mr. Gilbert lies buried in the 
cemetery at Pompey Hill. Mr. Daniel Gillctt settled and 
built a log house near where Mr. Seubal Knight lives. 
Samuel Johnson bought and made a clearing, where Daniel 
Marsh lived at the time of his death. In 1805, he sold to 
Asa Wells, who built a house and lived a little east, and 
back from the road. Mr. Wells sold to Judge Butler, or 
rather exchanged for 100 acres, the farm now owned by the 
Ilyan estate, situated at the foot of the hill directly east from 
the village. 

Mr. Wm. Lathrop resided where Frank Porter now lives. 
Mr. Lathrop drew the plan for, and framed the " Old Acad- 
emy" building. Opposite Mr. Lathrop, lived one Titus Rust, 
a shoemaker, who afterwards sold to Mr. Marovia Marsh. 
Farther south, where Calvin Dean lived, was ^atllaniel 
Brace ; nearly opposite, lived Gad Loveland ; farther south, 
(and where is liow a few apple trees, beyond the Wells' 
house,) lived George, afterwards Maj. Catlin,who, as before 
stated, kept the first public house in the place. 

Where Robert Ellis recently lived, Jas. Cravatt settled. 
He, very soon, sold to Chauncey Jerome, who lived upon 
the lot till his death. Is'ext south, lived Jas. Lankland. 
Where Ira Ellis lately lived, Capt. Sely Castle made a clear- 
ing and built a house. Where Eli Pratt lives, was Jabez,. 
afterwards Gen. Castle. Mr. Godfrey AVilliston settled 
where Mr. Guynn lived. Mr. Williston bought of one Dot}',, 
who first settled upon the farm. Mr. Urial Wilson was on 



THE POxMPEY RE-UNION. 183 

the farm now owned bv liis son-in-law, Truman W^ooJford. 

1 
jSText, came Messrs. Jolin Jerome and Joseph Smith, who i 

came to Pompey, as before stated, in 1794. These lands are 

still owned by the Jeromes. 

At the foot of the hill, on the road running east from the 
cemeter\', where Mr. Elizur Seymour now lives, Sylvanius 
Bishop bought of Cravatt, and settled. Further east, where 
is " the Bliss place," Benjamin Hopkins settled. He bought 
of one Whitney, who had built on the site of the present 
dwelling. Isaac Frost settled where Maj. Berrj' now lives. 
Beyond the four corners east of where Frost resided, Mr. 
Curtis located, owning the farm on which is located Xo. 8 
School house, the farm now owned by John VanBrocklin. 
linearly [opposite the old Curtis home is the VanBrocklin 
residence, where Nicholas VanBrocklin lived over tifty 
years. He purchased of one CampbeU the father of Almira 
Campbell referred to in Mrs. Ostrandcr's letter. On this 
farm Wm. W. Van Brocklin was born. Xext cast livei.] 
Elijah Wallis for over fifty 3'ears, and next on the north side. 
Millard Bobinson. 

At and near the four corners, at the top of the hill east of 
Frost, were located Deodatus, Hezekiah and Thaddeus Clark. 
The first two, physicians. The last, father of Grace CTreen- 
wood, who was located on the farm next west of VanBrock- 
lin's at the corners. 

There were also in same localit}-, south, Berry Davis, the 
Judds, Samuel Dunham, Aimer Pratt, Reuben Billings and 
Hanchett. .Further east, at Wood's Corners, was Wood, 
and near by, were James, JSToodiah and Epiphras Olcott. 

North from Dr. Clark's was Rev. Mr. Gilbert; since Tim- 
othy Butterfield's home ; then followed Samuel Flint, Elijah 
Wells and Artemus Bishop. At the foot of the hill, on 
road to Cazenovia, near the Pratt's saw mill, was Hooper 
Bishop, who only a few years since, was living in Michigan, 
at the advanced age o"f over a hundred, years. 

One Ackley lived west of the mill, and afterwards built 
the house occupied by Lewis Pratt. 



184 THE POMPEY 11E-U^"I0N. 

On the farm now owned by MarsLall E. Dyer, first lived 
Edward Hoar, who built a very substantial log house — the 
logs being hewn and made square, a circumstance quite un- 
nsual in those days, Mr. Hoar sold to Mr, Allen Hay den, 
who sold to Miles Dunbar, Elijah Howard bought of Dun- 
bar. He sold to John Todd, Irom Avliom it has passed to 
Pitt, and now to Marshall E, Dyer. By Pratt's Falls, Ma- 
noah Pratt and the Smiths — Jared and Eoderick — " took 
up" a lot of land one mile square, and settling, built a flour 
and saw mills. The flrst built m the present township of 
Pompey. These mills were erected in 1797 and 8. 

In thus giving names of the original settlements made, 
we have taken a circuit about the village of Pompey, and 
named the settlers en route. By this review, we find there 
were, within the circle thus described, as early as about 1800, 
sixty or sevent}- families. 

In Clark's Onondaga, we find that the entire i»o[iulation 
of the county at this time, was l,Oo(i,and of -this town, 309. 
Showing that nearly one-third of the entire population of 
Onondaga Co., (which then embraced Homer and Solon, 
now Cortland Co.,) was located in this vicinity. 

At that time, what is now Onondaga Co., nuuiltcrt'd onlv 
885, Pompey containing nearly 50 more than one-third of 
the entire number. Clark further says, "At this time such a 
vehicle as a horse wagon was not in existence in Ibis town 
or county; and the visiting was done mostly in winter on 
ox sleds, and happy and rich indeed v/as he who could yoke 
a pair of oxen of his own, make his way through the woods 
with wife and child or two on the sled, on an. evening's visit 
to a neighbor's several miles distant — in fact, such a man 
was consideied in rather opulent circumstances: and too, it 
was no disparagement for the belles and beaux of that day 
to attend singing school or spinning bee on the ox sled," 

Within the next few years many cliiinges took place; set- 
tlers came in rapidly; a very thriving community was estab- 
lished at what was then called Butler's Hill, Besides those 



THE I'OMPEY HE-UNION. 185 

already named vre find named by Clark, tlie following par- 
ties Avho had settled in the town, '• True Worthy and. Selali 
Cook, the Ilolbrooks, Hibbards, llinsdales, Messengers, 
Westerns, Aliens and Burrs."' 

But, during the advancement of the comniunit3' to this 
time, tlie trials attendant upon tlie emigration of the set- 
tlers, the deprivations necessary to be endured b)' them, in 
clearing the forests and commencing a settlement and a 
new home, were, bj' no means, light. Coming as many or 
nearly all of them did from Mass. and Conn., v,'here they 
l;ad enjoyed the comforts of a home in a comparativeh' old 
settled country : cliurches, schools, stores, mills, good roads, 
warm and comfortable dwellings, the social circle, and all of 
the comforts which a long established community enjoy ; 
and breaking aloof from these, and either on foot, with axe 
across the shoulder, or with the I'amily and family effects 
u[)on an oK-sled or cart, often Ijidding adieu to friends 
and kindred, they took u}) their line of niarcli for this the 
then far West. To do this, and under circumstances so 
nnta\'oral)le, was not so pleasant a task as we, viewing it 
from our present stand-point, in da}s of rail roads and 
tolegra[)hs, might su[»pose it to have been. 

A journey then to '• the West,"" was further than that of 
to-day, to California or to Oregon. 

The '• Xorth Biver" then, was a, distance so fin; from 
lume. that the criminal who' should escape to it, was safe 
from his pursuers. And Xcw York and Albany were places 
farther, apparently, from them, than Pike's Peak or San- 
Francisco from us to-day I 

When they were about to leave on their journey, the 
fiiends and neighbors ibr a great distanc3 around, met at 
the homestead; prayers were said, psalms was sung, and 
those who were lelt behind, felt that those who had gone, 
were to them no Ixtter than buried. During the last 30 or 
40 years, we have been accustomed to witness the dcparturo 
of friends and neighbors who, by rail road, were to take 



186 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

their departure for Wiscondn, Minn, and California, but 
never with feelings such as saddened the hearts of those who 
hade adieu to those who were to he the first settlers of this, 
our native town. 

ISTot unfrequently, the journey was performed by our 
grand-mothers in company with their husbands, sons and 
daughters, much of the way on foot, beside the cart or sled 
which carried the household goods ! 

As the young of to-day take a retrospect of those tini«s 
and trials, and ot the journeys performed by our grand-pa- 
rents, may we not learn lessons of heroism, of self-denial 
and of devotion to the best interests of our descendants, 
which should they be acted upon, would somewhat improve 
our physical, and perhaps our social and moral condition V 
Then society could boast of men and women possessed Avith 
strong physical, and often strong mental abilities, to whoao 
development we owe much of our present prosperity ar^d 
happiness. 

We can hardly realize the change since then. Fancy 
3^ourself surrounded by a ^number of little ones, cutting 
loose from the enjoyments of your present comfortable 
home, and all the blessings surrounding you, and wending 
your way, not by the comfortable and elegant rail road car, 
but by the slow, sure, tedious foot or sled-passage, over 
rough roads, across fords often deep and dangerous, over 
causeways, through swamps, through dense forests, the 
home of the panther, bear, Avolf, deer and Indian ; and, by 
the aid of marked trees, seeking your future home in a coun- 
try which, because of these difficulties, is far from friends 
and the comforts you now enjoy; and in the lone wood, 
stopping to rear a log hut, commence a clearing and the set- 
tlement of a new country. Picture the gradual completion 
of your rude dwelling; the felling of the trees; the clear- 
ing of the land ; its seeding and the growth of the little crop 
of corn or rye that is to become the bread of yourself and 
family; the hollow stump or mortar for cracking the same : 
and, in case of sickness, of the silent watch, the long lonely 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 18T 

trip for the pliysieian and medicine, in the absence of ncigli- 
bors or the possession of the many comforts which make the 
sick room cheerful and]the patient comfortable ; the anxiety 
felt for the recovery of a dear friend, it may be Avife or child ;. 
think of being now and then visited by the prowling wolf 
or bear, robbing 3'ou of stock whose flesh or wooly coat was. 
to make your meat and clothing ; of the trip on foot for 
miles through the forest, which on every side surrounds 
you, to the store, the shop or mill. In fine, if you can, think 
of being alone in the wilderness, with naught Init trees, wild 
beasts and Indians for companions, and you may in some 
small degree realize the position and painful self-sacrifice of 
those who, eighty years ago, settled in Onondaga count}', 
which to-day boasts so proudly of its thriving city and towns,, 
its broad, well-tilled farms, its teeming graineries, its large 
and beautiful dwellings, and its one hundred thousand popu- 
lation. 

It is to be hoped that this retrospect made by lis, shall 
enable us fully to realize the debt of gratitude we owe to 
those who cleared our forests and left to us the benefits of 
their labors. And in so much as they labored for us, and 
at no great cost, have left so great an inheritance, let us 
guard well the homes they made, as well as the principles of 
government they established and secured to us. In spite of 
every difficulty, let us perpetuate, as far as in our power it 
lies to perpetuate, for those who shall come after us, the 
same homes and free institutions, unimpaired, to the end of 
time. 

Clark says, " the earliest settlers were obliged to go to- 
AYhitestown, Oneida Co., a distance of 40 miles to mill. 
They, however, often used a stump as a mortar, and for a 
pessle. a hard wood stick of proper dimentions attached to a 
spring pole, for the purpose of breaking corn, and other 
grain. Marketing and trade was mostly done at Whites- 
town, old Fort Schuyler and Herkimer, and the transporta- 
tion was mostly done by ox teams, in the winter season." 

The first grist mill built near the settlers, was that at 



188 THE rOMPEY RE-UNION. 

Jaiiicsviile, in^l79-i, called Jackson's mill. '•• The first mills 
erected in tins tqwu, were at Pratt's Falls, by Messrs. Pratt 
and Smith. A grist mill in 1798 and a saw mill a ^-ear or 
two earlier.'' Mr. Pratt brought the material used in erect- 
ing his mills, exceptingthc hewn timber, from Connecticut, 
hauling the same on an ox sled or cart. About the year 1810 
or 12, Mr. Henry Seymour erected a windmill on Pompey 
Hill, near what is now the site of the Poman Catholic, for- 
merly the Baptist church. It proved a failure. In a year 
or two after, he built near the site of the first, another wind- 
mill, which was used only in the preparation of grain for dis- 
tihing. These mills stood for many years, and till about 
1838.^ 

The teams used bj- the earlier settlers were universalh' 
ox teams. There were no wagons in town. Only a single 
jiorse or two ; these were used to work with the oxen, and to 
go to mill or to store. The first chaise was brought here b}- 
Judge Butler, from Philadelphia, where he had purchased 
it in exchange for cattle that he had driven thither from 
Central ]SJ"ew York, to sell. 

The ploM's used were what they called '• The Bull Plow,"" 
nuide of wrought iron. The grain was covered by means 
of a crotch harrow with nine teeth ; one such implement 
•answered lor a neighborhood. Scythes were brought from 
the East. The snath was a straight stick, found in the 
woods. Messrs. Abram and Timothy Northrop made'lhe 
first bent snaths nianufactured in town. Wooden forks 
were used for turning hay, Pitcliing forks were iron, with 
heavy tines, 'ilieie being no barns, it was usual to stack 
the hay. l~hls was done by means of a long liandled fork, 
one answering for a community. 

Other farming utensils were of the rudest fashion. House- 
hold furniture was very limited in quantity, and often rude 
in style. One table; the old chest with drawers; the cup- 
board in whiclj were a few dishes; a few chairs; and one- 
half of a hollow log for a cradle would frequently complete 
the list. 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 189 

At about the year 1800, the trading at stores was mostly- 
done at Manliiis Square. The first store, wliere a general 
assortment of goods Avaskept, was opened by Jolin Meeker, 
about the year 1803 or 4, and in Avhat was then Col. Hop- 
kins' Tavern stand, at Pompey Hill. Before this, for a. short 
time, Truman Lewis, who kept tavern, kept also a few goods. 
And, as before stated, at Log City, Avas a place wliere tea, 
sugar, coffee, &c., coukl be procured. 

Mr. Meeker was soon followed by Clarke & Emmons, who 
l)uilt and used for a store, wdiat w^as at the time it was taken 
down called "Dea. Baker's Old Red House."' At about 
the time Clark & Emmons came, Henry Seymour and Orrin 
Stone opened a store. Clark & Emmons in a year or two 
left the place, and the firm of Seymour & Stone was the 
principal one doing a mercantile business in this village for 
a long period afterwards. 

At this date, the cloth (Hannel) which had been woven by 
our grandmothers, from wool they had carded and spun, 
was taken to Manlius to be colored and dressed — this mak- 
ing the full cloth worn by the settlers. Some of the fami- 
lies, it is related, wore deer skin breeches, the skins having 
been tanned by themselves; these when wet, w'ould shrink, 
and instances are cited where "boys were obliged to w^ear 
them without taking off till they became dry." In time, 
other fulling mills w^ere built; one in the hollow, near Mr. 
Conrad Bush's place; this mill, in the fall of the year, be- 
ing well stored with cloth from the vicinity, took tire and 
burned, together with its conteuts, causing serious loss, and 
in many instances sufterinic, among the settlers. 

^Ir. Ezra Dodge, wdio lived on the farm so long occupied 
by his son, David F. Dodge, was a wheel-wriglit. He used 
to mend cart wheels, to make plows, &c. 

The first blacksmiths after the Lillies, were Stewart & 
Smith; about 1804 or 5 they came from A'^erraont; they 
were brothers-in-law ; one had a shop near the dwelling 
which Jesse Butler first built; the other one nearly oppo- 
site the present site of the M. E. Church. 



1(10 THE POMPEY P.E-UNION. 

Stewart moved to Ohio, and Chester Howard came and 
worked at the business. Merrit Butler and Harry Hopkint^, 
-who learned the trade of him, (Howard,) entered into part- 
nership with him, and together they conducted the business 
for three years. Butler bought the shop, and afterwards 
worked at the trade in Pompey for forty years. 

At about the time this partnership was dissolved, Harry 
Hopkins and George Merrill entered into co-partnership, 
for the purpose of manufacturing "thirty toothed harrows," 
a patent for which had been obtained !)}■ Jacob Pratt and 
Hopkins. They built the long shop which was located 
nearly opposite the site of the present Disciples' Church. 

Joseph Beach worked at this trade on the Hill for many 
years. He also carried on wagon making extensivel}*. 
Horace Butts and Merrit Butler at one time were somewliat 
extensively engaged in the manufacturing of wagons. 

Mr. Hurlbut was the first cabinet maker; afterwards, 
Henry and Hezekiah Stevens settled in the village, and for 
inany years conducted that business. 

By reference to the laws of 1789, chapter 11, we find that 
authority was conferred on the General Sessions to organize 
townships: and accordingly, this township was organized 
by the General Court in session at Whitestown, in the same 
year. We believe, from the best information at hand, that 
for a period, Pompey embraced under this action of the 
•Court, all the 3Tilitarii Tract bounded on the west by Pre- 
emption line, nortli by State line to McComb purchase, east 
by line south to mouth of Chittenango Creek, thence on 
line of military tract to Chenango River, on south by Penn- 
sylvania State line. Settlements at or about this date, 1789, 
were made at Ilorsehead's, Morehouse Flatts, Cayuga Bridge, 
Chenango Point, at Manlius and at Pompey Hill. It is re- 
lated that at the first town meeting held in 1794, after the 
formation of the town by direct legislative enactment, there 
were present settlers from many or all of the settlements 
above named. 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 191 

''This first town meeting was held at Porapcy Hill, at the 
house of Ebenezer Butler, Jr., April 1st, 1794. Moses Do- 
Witt was chosen Supervisor, and Hezekiah Olcott, Town 
Clerk, Allen Beach, Wm. Haskins, George Catlin and Eb- 
enezer Butler, Jr., Assessors, Thomas Olcott, Jeremiah 
<Tould and John Lamb, Commissioners of Highways. A 
.-peeial town mooting was hold 20th September, 1794, at the 
i:0use of Ebenezer Butler, at which Wm. Haskins was 
chosen Supervisor, in place of Moses DeWitt, deceased." 
—(Clark.) 

The first lawyer, or rather })Ottifogger, who came to Pom- 
pey Hill, was a Mr. Dunham, a man whose stay was of short 
duration. Tiie first settled lawyer was John Keedar, who 
came here before or about the year 1800, and located near 
t!ie site of Pompey Academy; ho and his brother kept 
l)acheiors' hall ; he was a first-class lawyer for his time ; he 
was a German by birth, and because of a failure to receive 
some appointment at the hands of tlio State Government, 
he left the district and country. He Avas succeeded in ISOU, 
l)y Daniel Wood, who bought the residence occupied bv 
Xecdar; Mr, Wood continued a resident of Pompey many 
years, and in the successful practice of his profession, till 
liis death, which occurred in the year 1838. He was ap- 
pointed the first Post Master at Pompey Hill, in 1811, (pre- 
vious to this date the settlement went by the name of But- 
ler's Hill,) and he was intimately connected with all the 
early history of the village. Almost simultaneously with 
Esq. Wood, came Samuel Baldwin ; he Avas a man of groat 
promise, and obtained an enviable notoriety as a lawyer ; 
his oifice was near where is now located the watering tub, 
and in the north-east corner of what is now Mr, O. Jarvis 
Wheaton's door 3-ard : afterwards it was removed to the site 
of what is familiarly known as "Esq. Gott's Oflico." Vic- 
tory Birdsej'c, in 1809, settled in the place as a lawyer, and 
a partner of Mr. Wood. Daniel Gott afterwards came, 
taught school for a time, and then commenced the study of 
i-ftw with Wood & Birdseyc. Then followed Chas. Bald- 



102 THE POMPEY RE-UNIOX. 

wind, Chas. B. and II. J/ Sedgwick, Lucion Birdseye, Le- 
Roy Morgan, Geo. 11. "Williams, R^IL Duel! and others, 
whose name is legion — either as students at law or practi- 
tioners. Wm. W. YanBrocklin is the only lawyer at pres- 
ent located in Pompey ; he is also Justice of the Peace. 

The first physician in the town of Pompey, was Dr. Ho:- 
brook, who settled at Pompey Centre in 1793. The ilrst 
resident physician at Pompey Hill, was Pr. AValter Coton. 
He was followed by Daniel Tibbals, who settled here in 
about the year 1800; he, Dr. Tibbals, spent in Pompey 
many years in the practice of his profession: he left the 
town about thirty or thirty-hve years since, and moved to 
Erie, Pa., spending the residue of his life with Ins sons in 
that city. 

Cotempory with Dr. Tibbals from the year 1S14, Dr. Ju- 
hiel Stears has been a physician at Pompey Hill : he is still 
living at a good old age, and has not entirely given up the 
practice of medicine. Dr. Hezekiah Clark, in the year 1805 
or 6, settled east of the village of Pompey, and practiced 
medicine in tliis locality for a great number of years. He 
was a surgeon, serving as such in the Revolutionary war. 
Dr. Rial AVright was a partner with Dr. Stevens for a num- 
ber ofyears. Dr. L. B. Wells, during the lirst years of his 
practice, was a resident physician in this place. He was the 
tirst Homcepathic physician in Pompey. 

Dr. J. Deblois Sherman settled at Pompey Hill aljout 1S'2'>. 
Resided opposite the old home of Marovia ?darsh, where 
Frank Porter now^ (1875) lives. Oflice Avas on site of 
"Beard's stone store." He ranked high as a physician, 
w^ent to the West or Southwestern States. Dr. Til)bals had 
a Drug store just south of Sherman's office. 

The early settlers, with fe\v exceptions, were young 
married people, or those with families of small children : 
and they early perceived the necessity of establishing schools. 
As early as 1794, do Ave find that a school w^as opened : and 
shortly after, a house was built for the purpose, and every 




PREtiI5YTIiRIAN CHUKCH, I'OJIPEY UU-L, 



I 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 193 

advantage possible was secured, that the children might be 
taught. Not that the facilities for obtaining a liberal edu- 
cation were then as available as now, but such advantages 
as were demanded by the times were procured, and the 
school was a leading feature or institution of the community. 

The tirst school kept, was in a log house located near 
where Mr. Daniel Kellogg now lives. And among the first, 
it' not the first teacher, was Miss Lucy Jerome, afterwards 
Mrs. James Geddes, mother of the Hon. Geo. Geddes, of 
Camillus. 

The first house built for school purposes, was a frame one 
l)uilt in 1798, and located in the forks of the road on the 
village green; in the rear of which, was the first grave 
yard; afterwards, the house was moved north to near the 
present site of" Gott's office."" There school was kept for 
a number of years, till the Academy building was erected. 
Then the " Common School'" was kept for a number of years 
after, in a room of that building. 

Among the early teachers, Avas Miss Hepsabah Beebee 
and Mr. Lyman Pitcher; as well as Mr. Jas. Robinson, wbo' 
first taught English Grammar, a science that only the oldest 
ii\\(\ most «(:/i?rt?2eefl? scholars aspired to studj'. 

As the interest in education increased, the settlers con- 
ceived the idea of establishing an Academ}-. And aa early 
as about 1800, the frame for such an institution was raised, 
and in the year 1811, was incorporated by the Regents of 
the University. And the trustees under the charter held 
their first meeting in the month of April, of the same year. 

The educational interests of the people seemed to be 
among tlie more important, and whatever was done by them, 
it is evident, they meant should be well done', and that the 
benefits resulting from this institution be not for them and 
their children only, but for those who should come after 
them for generations to follow. 

To this end, they saw the necessity of making it a funded 
institution. Citizens in the vicinit}-, and for miles around, 



l^U THE POMPEY RE-UIvION. 

owning real estate made contributions to it of from 50 to 
100 dollars, and upwards, in mortgages on their farms. The 
interest accruing on the same to be paid annually. By this 
means there was accirmulated, together with that received 
from the sale of Public lands and other sources, a fund of 
several thousand doHars, and the institution has been able, 
(tho'igh sometimes lacking a sufhcient income from tuitions 
charged, to render it self-sustaining,) to support itself till the 
present time ; and has ever, till Academies and Union as 
well as good district schools have L>ecome so numerous about 
it, ranked among the first Academies of the State. 

Perhaps to this school, more than to any other one cause, 
do we owe the general intelligence of the people of this vi- 
cinity, which has won for the citizens of Pompey so fair a 
name abroad. And that has enabled her to send out so 
manv sons to till positions in Councils of the State snd I^a- 
tion, as "well as to distinguish themselves in tlie law and 
.other of the learned professions. 

The men of those days seemed to believe that the interests 
■ oi^ Education and Religion should go hand in hand, in a 
community I And that virtue and good morals, to be the 
j^esult of th^ one, should be taught l)y the other. Conse- 
quently, we see springing up simultaneously witli this in- 
stitution, one Ijcing a part of the other, the church, where 
the gospel A\as to 1)0 preached, — the people taught their 
duties to their ]S[aker. 

The tirst organization of this kind was what is known as 
the Presbyterian Church, properly, '-The First Congrega- 
tional Church of Pompey. 

This organization was eflectcd, ()ctober 10, 170(3, by 
Ameni R. Robbins, })astor of the church in Norfolk, Conn. 
The membership at tirst, consisted of the following twenty- 
two named persons : 

-MALES. TEMALES. 

Ebcnezer Butler, Desire Butler, 

..Tames Olcotf, Dorothy Butler, 



THE POMPEY RE-UNIOX. 195 

Benjamin Butler, Molly Jerome, 

Joseph Sliattuck, Lucy Cook, 

lehabod Lathrop, Free love Cook, 

John Jerome, Amarilla Jerome, 

Traeworthy Cook, Lucy Jerome, 

Selali Cook, Susanna Carol, 

Levi Jerome, Hannah Griffis, 

Moses Lilly, Zcrniali Catlin, 

Daniel Mclveys, Louisa Butler. 

The last survivor of them, Mrs. Louisa Butler, died April 
oO, 1857. Having heen for more than GO years a communi- 
oant of the church. 

Th" number of members increased from time to time, till 
in the year 1834, over oOO (o05) persons were reported in 
;^ood and regular standing in the connection. 

The meetings were tirst held in the school house that 
stood in the fork of the road, near the centre of the green. 
When the old Academy was erected, meetings were held in 
that building in a room suited to the purpose. 

At length, the congregation becoming too large to be ac- 
commodated there, the present church edifice was erected 
in the years 1817 and IS. and dedicated in the year 1819. 

The number of ministers that have, since the date of its 
organization been settled over the church, has not been small. 
Among these, liave been some of the best and most talented 
men of the country. The following is a list of names em- 
bracing all, or nearly all who have survived as pastors of 
this church. 

Rev. Mr. AVilliston, 1798 

'• Joseph Gilbert, 1790 

'' Hugh AVallis, . 1801 

•• Jabpz Chadwick 1812 

'• E. S. Barrows, 1822 

'• B. B. 'Stockton, 1829 

'^ J.B.Shaw, 1838 

•' Ethan Smith, 1835 



196 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

John Gridley, 1836 

Asa Rand, 18-37 

Mr. Wheelock, 

Clinton Clark 1845 

S. P. M. Hastings, 1848 

A. A. Graley, 1850 

J. H.Morron, 1862 

K Bosworth, 1863 

Mr. Eggleston, 186l! 

A. Cooper, 1869 

J. Petrie, 1872 

The Baptist church was organized in the year 1817, and 
at one time was equally as thriving as the Congregational 
church. But owing to certain causes, the organization has 
ceased to exist, and most of the original members living ten 
years ago, were members of the Disciples', or Christ's church. 
an organization of comparatively recent date. 

The Baptist congregation first held their meetings in 
barns and at the private dwellings of the members. 

Among the early ministers, and the first who preached to 
them after their regular organization, was the Rev. Freder- 
ick Freeman, a resident of Fabius. They built the churcli 
which they subsequently occupied in the year 1819 or 20, 
immediately after the Presbyterian house wks completed. 

The Methodist church was organized at a later period. 
Rev. Mr. Torry or Father Torry as he was called, was among 
the first, if not the first, minister that had charge of this 
church. Since his day, the church being under the super- 
vision of the Oneida Conference, has received its minister- 
by appointment, from the Bishops of the church, and ha- 
made changes regularly as per rule of the Itinerancy. No 
denomination canboast of more zealous or devoted pastors, 
than the M. E. church. 

This society was first formed in the neighborhood west 
of the village; and they built a church which has stood 
till a recent day, opposite the dwelling of Mr. kelson Hal'. 



THE POMPEY RE UNION. 197 

About the year 1839, the lionse of worship in the village 
was erected ; its membership may never have been very 
large, but it has embraced some of the pure and good men 
and women of the earth. Its early founders have gone to 
their reward and their works do follow them. 

The Disciples of Christ's church was organized under cir- 
cumstances which are fully given in the subjoined paper 
from the pen of the present pastor, Rev. A. S. Hale. 



DISCIPLES OF CHRIST. 

Early in the year 1833, the Baptist church atPompeyHill 
was left without a pastor. Duringthe Spring or early Sum- 
mer of this year, the church formed an acquaintance with 
Elder J. I.Lowell, who preached before the church several 
times "on trial." Though a Baptist minister in regular 
standing, he was not fully in sympathy Avith all the doc- 
trines of the Baptist creed, and he so distinctly informed the 
church. He was, however, nevertheless employed as the 
pastor of the Baptist church. At the time of his coming 
here, Mr. L. had recently had his attention called to certain 
ideas that he had once held as true, but which he was now 
tirmlv convinced were errors. Not being a man to hide 
any truth, or cover up any light he might possess, he began 
at once to declare '• the whole counsel of God"' as he had 
now come to understand it. Whatever his faults may have 
been, his great thought — the ruling idea indeed in his mind 
and life was — God has spohen, let Hisioord stand, and His will 
he done, though all humanisms come to naught. It was then, 
perhaps, more dangerous than now, for any minister to ad- 
vocate ideas not contained in "the creed.'' 

But, regardless of creeds, Mr. L. was determined to fol- 
low truth wherever it might lead, or whatever might be the 
consequences. His ministry was popular for awhile, until 
it began to be whispered that he was a " Campbellite,'" 
whatever that might be. But the cry of " heresy" now 
raised with reference to his teaching, could not deter a good- 
ly number from accepting the truths of God which he so for- 



198 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

cibly set forth. Xicknames applied to truth, will not iVigliten 
the real truth-lover, who, like the noble Bereans of old, will 
forhimself search the Scriptures to know what the}^ really 
teach and require. Many persons accepted the views ot 
Gospel truths presented by Mr. L., and many warmly op- 
posed them. 

Before the expiration of the first year of his labor in 
Pompey, the portion of the church wdiich rejected these 
views, closed the meeting-house against the pastor. The 
church also, as its records shows, (on May 9th, 1834, and 
again May 17th,) excluded quite a number of its members, 
for no crime, immorality, or unchristian conduct, for no overt 
act committed in joining any other society, but simply for 
entertaining new, and as they thought, enlarged views ot 
Gospel truth; or, as the record states it, "for cml)raeini!: 
the Campbell or heretical principle.'' 

Early in 1834, several persons were converted under Mr. 
Lowell's ministry. These, together with those who no 
longer found sympathy nor countenance in the Baptist 
church, desiring a home religiously, were necessarih- led to 
the formation of a new religious society in the place. On 
May 3rd, 1834, as Ihe records show^ " The First Congrega- 
tion of Disciples of Christ in Pompey" was organized, with 
twent^^-eight members, whose names Were as follows: 

Calvin Peck, J. I. Lowell, 

Asa "Wells, Mary P. Lowell, 

Thos. M. King, Eliza Nearing, 

Alson l^earing, Polly Wilson, 

Charles Little, Mary A. Bush, 

Malcom Bennett, Temperance Wilson, 

A. H. Squires, Paulina Talbot, 

Uriel Wilson, Jr. Mindwell Thomas, 

Samuel Talbot, Harriett Pratt, 

Harry Knapp, Catherine Bennett. 

Willard Hey don, Betsey Wright, 

Darius Wilson, Ehoda Parsons, 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 199 

Jacob Bush, Polly Thomas, 

Alviti Talbot, Mary Iviiapp. 

Seven of these persons still, (Aug., 1873,) remain mem- 
bers of the church. At the end of the year in winch the. 
church was organized, there were 50 members, and b\" the 
end of the next year (1835, ) the number had reached 93. 

In the year 1837 the society built the house in which 
they worshipped nntil 18G8, when a new church was built, 
the old one having been sold for the use of the [District 
school, in place of the school house which was burned down 
on the night of Feb. 11, 1868. 

The hrst pastor of the church was J. I. Lowell. The 
first Elders were Calvin Peck, Asa "Wells and Thomas M. 
King. Deacons, Alson j^earing and Charles Little. Treas- 
urer, Malcom Bennett. Clerk, A. II. Squires. 

The following -ministers have served the church as j^a>:- 
tors:— J. M. Bartlett, M. H. Clapp, M. H. Slosson,H. M. 
Selmser, J. M. Shepard, Andrew J. Smith, TV. T. Horner, 
L. Southmayd, J. B. Marshall, J. C. Goodrich and A. S. 
Hale. 

The present Elders are Harry Ivnapp, George Nearing 
and Lucius CrandalL 

Deacons — U. AYilson, J. W. Garrett, Morris Bush and D. 
B. Knapp. 

The church numbers now about IGO members. 

The dead were lirst buried in a yard located on the pub- 
lic green, and back of the first school house. The first 
buried, were two children of Geo. Catlin, who died of scar- 
latina. The first adult buried there, was Mrs. Cravatt, wife 
of him -who settled on farm recently owned and occupied by 
Robert Ellis. Col. Hezekiah Olcott, a resident of this town, 
an officer in the Revolution and a surveyor, while engaged in 
surveying the State Road, was taken ill of fever and died at 
Pompey West Hill; he was brought to this village and 
buried with military honors. He, it is said by those who 



200 THE rOMPEY RE-UNION. 

remember liim, was a very intelligent man, one of great in- 
tluence, iirst among the first men of tlie country ; a man 
mucli loved and whose loss was severely felt, not only at 
Jiome but all through the county and central portion of the 
^Statc. 

About the year 1802 or 3, measures were taken to locate 
a new burial ground. The location selected was opposite 
Dr. Stearns' present residence, and the bodies that had been 
buried at the place before named, were desinterred and 
buried there. On reflection, however, it was determined 
that the locality was an unfavorable one, and the lot was 
abandoned, as a burial place ; and what is now the east or 
back part of the present beautiful cemetery Avas selected, 
to which place the dead were taken and buried. About the 
' year 1823 the " new part" Avas purchased of Peter Sniitb, 
I father of Hon. Garrett Smith of Peterborougb. The first per- 
j son buried in tbis new part, was Mr. Daniel Knapp, wlio 
died in the month of August of the same year in which the 
lot was fenced, 1823 ; he died suddenly, of Billions cholic, 
being ill only a few hours. A second " new part"' situated 
north of the first, was recently added : and tlie whole yard 
under the direction of the present incorporate company, is 
kept in most pleasing order, with excellent fences, walks and 
shade trees. 

A complete record of every burial is ke[ir. 

in speaking of Pompey Hill, Clark says : " This village 
was, within the memory of men still living, as prominent a 
place as any in the county. It gave more tone to Ihe sur- 
rounding country and settlements, on account of its refine- 
ment and wealth, its intelligence and learning, than any 
place in the vicinity. People came here for legal advice, 
they came here for medical advice, to do their trading, and 
they came here for fashions, they came here for military pa- 
rades, for political discussions and for general consultations 
of a public nature; they came here to engage in all the 
events incident of men in public life.'' 



THE rOMPEY RE-UNION. 201 

LA FAYETTE— (PoMPEY West Hill.) 

The first settler in tliis localit}', was John Wilcox, before 
named as the first settler in the original township. He set- 
tled about two miles from the present viHage of La Fayette. 

The first settlers in and near the village, were Joseph 
Ehoades, ApollosKing, ZaraD. Howe, Caleb Green, Joseph 
Smith, Dr. Silas W. Park, Mr. Owens and the Bakers, all 
or nearly all coming from Chesterfield, Hampshire Co., Mass., 
in or about the year 180L 

Rhoades liuiltalog tavern and kept a public house on the 
site of the present one. He afterwards moved to Marcellus, 
where many of his descendents are now living. Mr. Apol- 
los King did not remain any great length of time; he set- 
tled one-half mile south of "-The Corners,"" moving from there 
to Otisco. Howe settled near an ashery on the Caleb Green 
farm, and put up a frame to a house. He did not complete 
the house, but sellinghis improvements to Dr. Silas W. Park, 
he moved to Otisco. Dr. Park finished the building and 
lived in tiie same, during the remainder of his life, a period 
of 24 years. The house was standing in ]870. 

Joseph Smith settled near the site of Dr. Elijali Park's 
dwelling : lie was a fariucr, lived here about 20 years and 

till his (lentil. 

Krastiis P)aker, the iirst of the family by that name who 
settled in this locality, came in 1801, with Stephen ("En- 
sign"') Cole and Phoades, and settled on the hill just west of 
the village. In 1805 Seth nuide a settlement joining Eras- 
tus on the West, and Sydenham located to tho north of him. 
Thomas, in 1803, settled one and one-half miles southwest of 
the Corners, in what is now called Sherman Hollow. The 
greater part of these lands remain in the hands of the Baker 
family to this day. 

Joseph cV Lemuel came in 1804, but made no permanent 
home : Joseph moving to Otisco, and died there. Lemuel 
went to the far West, and it is said, was finally killed by the 
Indians in Texas, when hunting for his cows. 



202 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 



Orange Iviug and his brother, (if at all connected with 
Apollos King, it was a very distant connection.) came from 
Chesterfield, about 1800. They settled one mile north of 
the Corners. There was another brother who settled one 
mile west of the Corners. 

About the same time Gen. Isaac Hall came from Great 
Barrington, Mass., and settled one mile south of Corners, 
on a soldier's claim. He purchased ten or twelve hundred 
acres, was the wealth}' man of Pompev. It is said, that he 
brought into town with him half a bushel of silver dollars. 

He gave his attention to the raising of stock. It was his 
custo«i to let to his neighbors, and to citizens elsewhere, 
cows, sheep, colts, &c., to double. He died about 182Gor 7. 
being worth, it was said, about 70,000 dollars. 

Joseph S. Cole settled half mile south ot Corners, came 
in at an early day, remained a short time, then went to 
Pennsylvania, afterwards returned to "West Hill and died 
here. 

The first and oiib/ licensed lawyer settling at "West Hill. 
or village of La Fayette, was Samuel Baldwin, who had pre- 
viously been located at Pompey Hill. He remained a num- 
ber of years practicing his profession, afterwards went to 
Geneva and died, while living with his daughter. 

The first resident physician at this village, was Dr. Silas 
W. Park, who settled as before stated on IST. W. corner of 
Public Square. He cleared this Square of forest trees. He 
practiced medicine during his life-time. About 1814, Dr. 
Chauncey Williams became a partner of Dr. Park, which 
partnership continued for three years. In 1817, Elijah, 
brother of Dr. Silas W. Park, came and read medicine with 
him. Afterwards was his partner for three years. He then 
moved to Otisco, where he remained three or four years, 
then moved to Adrian, Mich., where he died. One Dr. 
Squires came and made a residence of two years, and then 
left. 

After Dr. Silas ^\ . Park's death, Dr.AYard Bassitt, of Sa- 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION, '20S 

lina, came and made a stay of one or two years. lie then 
went to Cazenovia, Madison C ). In 1825, Dr. Rial Wright 
came and remained one and a half years. At this time Dr. 
EHjah Park, son of Dr. L. W. Park, who had previously 
studied medicine with his father and uncle, bought of Dr. 
Wright his ride, paying him $150.00 for the same. Dr. W. 
went to Pompey Hill, and, as a partner of Dr. Jehiel Stearn, 
practiced medicine in that viUage and vicinity for many 
years. Dr. Elijah Park has remained in the village and is 
to-day, (1872,) in the practice of his profession. Dr. Lyman 
Rose was a resident physician in the village for many years 
prior to his death, which occurred in 1867. 

Lemuel Smith, father of Rev. Marcus Smith, was the first 
blacksmith settling at West Hill. Coming about year 1800, 
and remained till his death, 1817. His shop w^as located on 
site of the church. His anvil w^as situated near the spot 
where now stands the pulpit in the church. 

Morris Clapp, brother of Mrs. Silas W. Park, came and 
settled as a blacksmith, in 1818. He worked here at his 
trade, 45 years. He died in 1870, aged 76. 

Nathaniel Steading, a carpenter and joiner, settled on 
farm now owned and occupied by Luther Baker. He built 
the Baptist church at Pompey Hill, and the church now 
standing in this village. The latter part of his life was spent 
upon a farm. He died in Connecticut. Ho was connected 
with, and was a leading man in the church, and in educa- 
tional matters. 

Before Stearling, James, Asa, and Joseph McMillin, broth- 
ers, carpenters and joiners, settled about one mile K. E. of 
Corners. Joseph and James built the first framed hotel, 
and the one now standing in the village ; Stoughton Morse 
being landlord. The first hotel was built of logs, and James 
Higgins w^as landlord; this was in about 1808. The McMil- 
lens remained many years, finally selling, moved away and 
died in difterent localities West and South-w^est. 

Dorus Porter, a cabinet maker, from 1820, lived in the 
village ; was Deacon in church, now lives in Michigan. 



204 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

Ansil King was a tanner and shoemaker at the Corners, 
for many 3'cars, a prominent man as a mechanic. 

Caleb Green owned and gave half of the lot now used for 
a public square, Erastus Barker giving the other half. 

Ansd Smith, Chas. Jackson, and General Hall were Jus- 
tices of Peace. (The latter a number of years) before the 
division of the township. Col. Johnson Hall, son of Gen. 
Hall, was sheriff and member of State Legislature. He was 
a merchant at West Hill, carrying on a very extensive trade. 

The first merchant was Stoughton Morse,^the tavern keep- 
er. Had a little store the first at the Corners, in connection 
with hisho'iel, in 1805. Then followed Ansil Smith as mer- 
chant, till 1812 or 14. During the war of 1812, Smith run 
a distillery, bought cattle for troops, sending stores of pro- 
vision to Sackett Harbor, and to Granadier Island, After 
the war. Judge Hall was the merchant of the place. 

Amos Talmeter settled one mile south of La Fayette 
Square, at about ISOo. He had a pig pen covered with 
logs to protect the pigs from the bears. At a time when 
he had a lot of pigs in this pen, one of the logs happened to 
l)e moved so as to leave an opening ; and in the night the 
squealing of the pigs aroused the family ; but Amos was 
afraid to go out. His wife took an axe and went to the pen, 
and seeing a bear coming out of the opening, she gave him 
a blow, and pulled the log over the hole. She then took a 
fire-brand in her hands, and went south through the woods, 
three forths of a mile to a Mr. Johnson's, and had him come 
to help dispatch the bear. But, opening the pen, old Bruin 
was found dead from the blow she had already given him. 
This story illustrates the courage and pluck of our grand- 
mothers in those days. Not, however, a very good story 
for Amos, we think. 

In Sherman Hollow, the first settlements were made in 
1793. 

Among the first who located here v/ere Solomon Owen 
and James Sherman. They built, m 1795 or 8, grist and 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 205 

saw mills. The saw mill built by them is still in good 
working Older. 

Mr, Sherman was father of Dr. J. De Blois and Josepli 
Sherman. The first was at one time a prominent physician 
at Pompey Hill. The latter a Justice of the Peace from 
1830 to about 1840. 

In 1794, Reuben Bryan, Amasa "Wright, Samuel Hyatt, 
James Pierce and Amaziah Branch, settled in this hollow. 

The last named, was the first school teacher at this place 
and at La Fayette Village. He died at Dr. S. W. Park's, 
of nightmare, in about 1818. He is said to have been one 
of the good men of the earth. He was poor, but well edu- 
cated. He came from Massachusetts. 

In the north part of Sherman Hollow, were John Hough- 
taling, William Haskins and Comfort Bounds, located as 
early as 1792. 

The first white child born within the limits of the town, 
is said to have been Amy Wilcox. Born in 1791. 

Chas. Johnson, a blacksmith, has carried on business at 
Sherman Hollow for about 50 years ; and he is still at Ids 
forge working as industriously as ever. 



DELPHI. 

About six miles East and South from Pompey Hill, is 
located the beautiful valley of the Limestone Creek. A 
valley which became settled at an early day by a race of no- 
ble men and women, many of whose descendants to-day are 
tilling positions of trust in State and Nation. 

As early as about the year 1800, there were located with- 
in the present limits of the township of Pompey, and within 
this valley, a few settlers, who during the next five or ten 
years were joined by many others, and a settlement em- 
bracing fifteen or twenty families was [formed. At a later 
time a Post office was located there. At this time, when 
the settlers had met for the purpose of changing the name 



20G THE roMPEY re-union. 

trom "• Pompev Four Corners/' one of their number de- 
clared the valley and its surroundings, were similar to one 
with which he Avas familiar in Italy, and suggested that the 
name of a village in that valley be given to the village in 
this. The suggestion meeting the approval of the citizens, 
the Italian name " Delphi" was given to the settlement. 

It is impossible for ns to give the exact order in which the 
settlers came into this valley, ]^^either can we be sure that 
in every instance, correct dates are given. We are largely 
indebted for information to a gentleman who first settled in 
the township of Fabius : but who was in reality a member 
of this community; and who, to-day, (1873,) is a resident of 
the village. Mr. Elnathan Griflith, who, at 90 years of age, 
possesses a reliable memory; his statements corroborating 
the best information obtained from other sources. 

Mr. GrifRth came into the valley in the year 1800. And 
has since, without interruption, been associated with its his- 
tory. He was intimately acquainted with those who had 
preceded him, and was made familiar with the date and the 
attendant circumstances of tlicir settlement. 

Samuel Sherwood was, probably, the first settler in this 
vicinity. He located in 1795 on lot jSTo. 84, about one mile 
northwest from the present village, on a farm afterwards 
owned l)y Patrick Shields, who married Mr. Sherwood's 
widow. Samuel Sherwood was a Maj. Gen. of a regiment. 
He came from Saratoga county. 

Rufus Sheldon, father of a very talented fiimily, among 
whom is Harvey Sheldon, Esip, of jSTew York, settled in 
March, 1800, near Maj. Sherwood's, one and one-half miles 
north-west from the village. In 1798 or 9, Elijah Hill, com- 
ing from Pittsfield, Mass., settled three miles down the val- 
ley, north from the village. In 1800, Col. Ensign Hill, 
brother to Elijah, came and settled a little south of the vil- 
lage. In 1802, James McClure setjtled one [mile southof 
Elijah Hill. Samuel Draper came from Vermont, and;set- 
tlcd in the vicinity, about 180-3. Benjamin Coats and Wil- 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION, 207 

liaiu Peas caniu with or near the time James McClure 
did. The three came from Is'ew Lebanon, Columbia Co., 
X. Y. 

McClure and Coats settled on lauds now occupied by their 
descendants. Mv. Peas settled one half mile north of Elijah 
Hill. Osias P)urr and AYilliam Cook, also came from jSTew 
Lebanon about this time, 1802. Burr was Justice of the 
Peace and Judge of Court of Common Pleas. 

Elihue Barber came in 1801, and settled on the hill west 
of the vallcv, and' about one and one-half miles from the 
•,reek. lie was induced to settle out ot the valley because 
the opinion prevailed that wMere the timber was off the 
Itottom land, the}' would have little value, aiul " be too 
poor to raise l)eans."" 

Moses Blowers and Stutson Benson settled at an early 
day near Barber's, on lot 84. 

Ca[)t. Theopelas Tracy settled one-halt mile S. E. on a 
farm now occupied by Henry Ryder. He built the /ra?;^c of 
the first Grist mill on Limestone Creek. The same mill is 
riow owned by Alex. Maxwell. This frame was erected by 
Capt. Tracv in about 1803 or 4. He sold to Moses Savage. 
vvdio emplo^'cd ^Ir. Ehiethan Griffith, a mill-wright, to com- 
plete the mill. 

The stone, '-two run,"" were brought from Albany bv 
teams that had taken wheat thither, to market. These stone 
are French Burr stone, and arc still running in the mill. 
They cost i>100.(K>. 

Dea. ^Nloses Savage settled on the east side of the Creek, 
and built the tirst carding mill that was erected in the val- 
ley. Also, in about 1825 or ;30, he built the grist-null now 
jwned by Edgar Pratt. 

Zebulon Edgerton, in 1806, had a good sized clearing one 
mile south of Delphi. The same farm is now occupied bv 
Wm. H. Savage. His son, Mr. Reubin Edgerton, who came 
with his tather, in 1802, is still living (1873) in Delphi, at the 
age of 92 years. 



208 THE POMPEY RE-UNIOX. 

Dr. Joseph Ely kept an Inn on site of present hotel, and 
also practiced medicine in the locality. He bought, in 1804, 
of Peter Root or of Mr. Goodrich a Justice of the Pence, Mr. 
Ely found on the lot a " brush house,*' which some previous 
settler had left. This he occupied till fall of 180(5. He 
then employed Mr. Elnethan Griffith, the only carpenter in 
the place, to put up a frame addition to this house Pr. 
Ely came from Montg-omcr}- Co., X. Y. 

At this time, 180G, there was a frame barn and several log 
houses in the vicinity. Salmon G. Willard and Daniel H. 
Hubbard had built a store in the fall of 1805, opposite, west 
of hotel. The wife of Mr. Hubbard, is still living at Delphi, 
aged 91 years. 

In about the year 1808, William Shankland, father to 
Judge Shankland, of Cortland, settled in this valley, his 
house being located on the east side of the creek, and of the 
County line. He was a member of this community, al- 
though a resident of Madison county. 

On what is called " the Hitchcock place," settled AValter 
Bates. This is near the old Indian Fort, on lot 99. This 
was, probably, the first settlement made on this lot. Robert 
Swarthout, son of the soldier [who drew the lot, was, ver- 
bally authorized by his father to come on and to sell out 
the lot. He was here for a short time for this purpose. 

After selling the lot, or much of it, he moved to Ithaca. 
Hon. John M. Jaycox, is, we are assured, a descendant on 
the maternal side, from this family. Mr. Swarthout sold 
from this lot, in 1800, to Jasper Galliway, and, we be^eve, 
to Thos. Derbyshire. One of these sales embraced the land 
now occupied by Russel and Sheldon Strickland. 

Horace Yates' name is also associated with this same fan... 

Elisha Litchfield came in 1812. His dwelling was locat- 
ed on the site of Alanson N. Godfrey's house. He kept a 
store on the corner, near his house. Hie relative, Ephraini 
Cleaveland, came in 1810, and kept hotel on the site of the 
present one, for a year or two, when he died. His property 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 209 

fell into the hands of Maj. Litchfield, who continued for a 
short time to act as landlord. Hon. Elisha Litchfield was a 
prominent man among the prominent men of his day. Maj. 
of Regiment, Member of Assembly, Speaker of the House 
and Member of Congress. 

Reuben Benton was an early settler and Justice of the 
Peace. Bela Cole lived at an early day where !N". F. Potter 
has recently built a house, opposite the Baptist church. 



J 



The settlers at one time, did nearly all of their trading at 
Cazenovia, with John I^ineland, who was agent for the Hoi- ^ *^^ 
land Purchase Co. 

Messrs. Hubbard & Willard were the first parties who 
kept a full assortment of goods in Delphi, this was in 1805 
and 6 ; they sold to Esli Scpiires. In 1810, Squires built 
and occupied a store on the corner, where Marble's store is 
now located ; he then sold the building purchased of Hub- 
bard and Wiilard, to Richard Taylor, father to Rev. Elisha 
L. Taylor, D. D., and to James M. Taylor, of New York. 

Herrick Allen bought of Taylor; he was a leading mer- 
chant for many years, and became wealthy. His father. 
Daniel Allen, in 1802, settled two miles north of the village. 

At an early day Schuyler Van Rensselaer was a merchant 
at Delphi. In 1818 he sold to Matthew B. Slocum, father 
to Maj. Gen. Henry B. Slocum, U. S. A. 

Up to 1810, there was but one store. 

Of the physicians, probably Dr. Joseph Ely was the first 
who settled in the valley; he remained about three years. 

The following named physicians have practiced their pro- 
fession, being at the time, residents of Delphi : 

Doctor Frisby, Dr. Shipman, brother of A. B. Shipman. 
recently of Syracuse, was at Delphi, 45 years ago ; he re- 
mained many years; he died in Rochester, in 1871. Dr. 
John L. King and Dr. Pettit, brother of Judge Pettit, of Fa- 
bius, were partners. Dr. Hiram Adams, so long a prac- 

14 



oy) THE rOMPEY llE-UNION. 

ileiug physician in Fabius, was at one time connected witli 
Dr. I'cttit, in his office. 

Dr. Goodell, succeeded Dr. Shipnian. Others have fol- 
lowed : among them were Drs. Marsh, Hiram Wiggins, Eli 
Cook, Isaac Baker, Dr. Todd and Dr. Potter. The last 
named being the only resident physician living in the vil- 
lage at this date, 18 To. 

Amos Benedict had in 1806, two miles north from Del- 
phi, a blacksmith's shop ; the iirst shop of the kind in the 
village was owned and carried on by two brothers named 
Townsend. 

Oliver Eoo-ers was a wagon maker in 1810. Mr. Prina- 
tore was a wheel-wright, and beside, made the " bull plow"^ 
us it was called, with wooden mould-board. Jabez Groude- 
vant was cabinent maker in 1810, and worked here at his 
trade till his death, which occurred about the year 1850. 

Deacon Abbott was the Iirst tanner; as early as in 1807 or 
8, he built al; the vats belongingto the old tannery ; he sold 
to James Peeves. About 1820, John and Michael Spencer, 
from England, came into possession of the yard and the 
business ; they conducted the business for many years. Ei- 
nallv. it was determined that one should move to Cardift, 
and continue the business there; to decide which should go 
they '• iilppcd coppers;' John was elected to go ; he became 
Judge of the Court. Afterwards, Member of Asssembly : 
he was much beloved by his fellow-townsmen, and his al- 
scncc was a great loss to Delphi. 

Caleb Perry, afterwards bought the tannery and worked 
at the tanning business till the building and yard was de- 
stroyed by a freshet. 

One mile south-east from the village, Clark Pogers, in 
1823, built an edge tool fixctory ; this factory was afterwards 
owned and conducted by Holmes and Sampson, whose rep- 
utation as excellent workmen is wide-spread ; their^ tools 
being known as of the best make in the country. This fac- 
torv is now owned h\ Jolm Salisbury. 



THE POMPEY EE-UNIOX. 211 

Heniy TenEycke owned, till 1853, when it was destroyed 
l>y lire, a Woolen factoiy, which was established in 1812. 
It was located on the creek north from the villao-e, and du- 
ring the whole period of its existence did a heavy business. 

To-day the village of Delphi is one of thrift. Two churches, 
a school, ill which many celebrities have tauglit, amono' 
them are Jesse T. Peck, one of the Bishops ol' the M. E 
church, Dr. Amos Wescott, recently of Syracuse, and Hon' i 
D. G. Fort, of Oswego. ' " f 

Several stores— among them a Drug store— a good hotel ' 
shops, neat residences with beautiful yards, aircontribute 
to render this village one of the most beautiful inland towns 
lii Central IS'cw York. 

From this valley and community, as descendants of the 
early settlers, whose names we have here recorded have 
gone forth a Judge of the Supreme Court, a Maj ' Gen 
Lmted States Army, a Doctor of Divinity, successful ph\-- 
sieians, tradesmen, mechanics and lawyers'! 

WATERVALE. 

F!:OM THE i'KX i>F ^VAK]•MAN Ci. SPUAGUE, OF SYI!ACr«E. 

Watervale, a village situated on West Branch or Lime- 
stone Creek, and about four miles north-east from Pompev 
IIill, was settled by Col. James Carr, about the vear 1800 
Mr. Carr built tbe first saw mill erected on the" stream in 
tins vicinity. He was soon followed, about the same year 
or m 1810, by Willoughby Milliard, who almost simultan- 
eously with Mr. Carr, erected the second saw mill This 
place was first called Carr Hollow, then Hemlock Hollow, 
also blab Hollow, on account of the great quantity of slabs 
made by those mills. 

Ansil Judd, father to Solomon Judd, of Binghamton, and 
of Orvan R. Judd, of American Express Co., Buffalo, settled 
111 the Hollow in 1812, and built the first wool-carding and 
cloth dressing establishment in the town. 



212 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

The Post Office was established in 1820, and Ansil Judd 

was first Post-Master. He selected the name of Watervale, 

and published lines announcing the fact, viz : — 

" The hemlocks are gone, 
The Slabs are set sail, 
And we'll call it Slab Hollow 
No more, but Watervalc." 

George Ostrander settled about the year 1815, and built a 

distillery, using about ten bushels of grain a day, which 

amount in those days, was considered very large. 

Benjamin F. Wheeler carried on the business of tanning 
and shoe making, for a long time. 

Ira Curtis moved to Watervale at an early day, and opened 
the first store. He also built, and for many years kept the 
first hotel. 

Wm. C. Fargo, O. Abbott, Benjamin Patten and V. K. 
Taylor, w^ere among the first settlers. 

Anson Sprague settled on a farm south of Watervale, in 
1818. On this farm was found the celebrated Monumental 
stone, now in the State Agricultural and Historical rooms 
at Albany. The following description of this stone we take 
from Mather & Brockett's Geography of the State of New 
York, published in 1847, by J. H. Mather & Co., Hartford, 
Editor : 

" In the town of Ponipey, a stone was found some years 
since, about fourteen inches long, twelve broad, and eight 
thick. It had a figure of a serpent entwined about a tree, 
and this inscription. 



Leo X De "^ 
VIx 1520- 



L. S. 



tn 

This inscription has been interpreted — Leo X. by the grace 
(or will) of God, sixth year of his pontificate, 1520. L. S. 
the initials of the person buried, (as it was undoubtedly a 
sepulchral monument,) — the cross, an indication that he was 
a Catholic, and the character n perhaps a rude intimation 



THE POMPEY KE-UNION. 213 

that he belong-ed to the masonic fraternity. The date is cor- 
rect, Leo X. having been elected Pope in 1513-14. It seems 
probable that some Spanish adventurers, in quest of silver 
or gold, lured by the leport of the salt springs, and hoping 
to iind there the object of their search, had wandered hither 
from Florida, which had been discovered and explored in 
1502. One of the number dying here, his companions erect- 
ed this simple memorial to mark the place of his burial." 

Col. John Sprague and AnsilJudd built the grist-mill in 
1830. 

John Sprague and Anson Sweet, built the first two brick 
dwelling houses that were erected in the north part of the 
town, near the " Clapp Settlement." Capt. John Sprague, 
father to John and Anson, came from Milton, Saratoga Co., 
in 1798, and settled just out of Watervale, near the farm of 
the late Reuben Murray. 

Wm. C. Fargo, father of "Wm. C. of American Express 
Co., resided at Watervale at an early day ; he had for a long 
time the contract for carrying the mail from Manlius via. 
"Watervalc, Fabius, Delphi and Porapey Center, three times 
a week. "William G. Jerome and Chancellor Fargo for 
years rode the horse that carried the mail. North of Wa- 
tervale prior to 1800, and about 1793, settled David Williams, 
I^athan Williams and another brother, all farmers, at what 
was called Williams' Corners. David Williams and wife at 
the age of 93 years, are still living in 1875. 



HISTORY OF THE MILITARY TRACT. 

[Extract from the Journal of the Assembly of the State of Nev: York, Dated 
March 27, 1783.] 

"A copy of certain resolutions of the Honorable the Sen- 
ate, delivered by Mr. Duane, was read and in the words fol- 
lowing, to- wit : 

Whereas, Congress, by act of the 16th day of September, 
1776, did resolve that the following quantity of Bounty 



214 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

Lands should be given to officers, non-commissioned officers 
and privates, serving in the Continental Arnn^, to-wit: 

To a Colonel, 500 acres. 

" Lieutenant Colonel, 450 " 

" Major, 400 " 

" Captain, 300 '' 

•' Lieutenant, 200 " 

" Ensign, 150 '' 

Each non-commissioned officer and private 100 " 

And by an act of the 12th of August, 1780, did declare 
that a Major-General should have 1100 acres, and a Briga- 
dier General 850. 

"And, whereas, the Legislature of the State are willing 
not only to take upon themselves to discharge the said en- 
gagement of Congress, so far as it relates to the line of this 
State, but like as a gratuity to the said line, and to evince 
the just sense this legislature entertain of the patriotism and 
virtue of the troops of this State, serving in the army of the 
United States. 

Resolved, Therefore, (if the Honorable the House of Assem- 
bly concur herein,) that besides the bounty of land so prom- 
ised as aforesaid, this legishiture will bylaw provide that the 
Maj. Generals and Brig. Generals now serving in the line of 
the army of the United States, and being citizens of this 
State, and the officers, non-commissioned officers and pri- 
vates of the two regiments of infantry commanded by Col- 
onels Yan Schaick and A'an Cortlandt, such officers of the 
regiment of artillery commanded b}' Col. Lamb, and of the 
corps of sappers and miners, as were, when they entered the 
services, inhabitants of this State, such of the non-com- 
missioned officers'and privates ot the said last mentioned two 
corps as are credited to this State as part of the troops there- 
of, all officers designated by auy acts of Congress subse- 
quent to the 16th day of September, 1776, all officers re- 
commended by Congress as persons whose depreciation on 
pay ought to be made good by this State, and who may hold 



THE POMPEY' RE-UNIOX. 215 

niilitaiy commissions in tlic line of the armv at the clo.ie of 
the war, and the Eeverond John Mason and John Gano. 
severally ha^'e granted to them the following (juantitics of 
land, to-wit : 

To a Maj. General, .')500 acres. 

"Brig. " ..4250 '• 

'' Coh 2500 '• 

" Lieut. Col 2250 •' 

" Major 2000 " 

A Capt. and Kegimental Surgeon, each 1500 '• 

Each of said Chaplains, : 2000 " 

Every Subaltern, and Surgeon's Mate, 1000 '■ 

Every Xon-Commissioned officer and private, 50O '• 

That the lands so to be granted as bounty from the Uni- 
ted Slates, and as a gratuity from this State, shall be laid 
out in townships of six miles square ; that each township 
shall be divided into 150 lots of 150 acres each, two lots 
whereof shall be reserved for the use of a minister or minis- 
ters of the gospel, and two lots for the use of a school or 
schools ; that each person above described shall be entitled 
to as many such lots as his bount}' and gratuity land as afore- 
said, will admit of: that one-half of the lots each person 
shall be entitled to shall be improved at the rate of five 
acres for every hundred acres, Avithin the term of five years 
after the grant, if such lots are sold by the original grantee, 
or within ten years from such grant, if the grantee shall re- 
tain the possession of such lots; and that the said bounty 
and gratuity lands be located i)i tlie district of this State 
reserved for the use of the troops by an act, entitled "An 
Act to prevent grants or locations of the lands therein men- 
tioned ; passed the 25th day of Jul v, 1782. 

liesoked, That His Excellency the Governor be reques'ed 
to communicate these resolutions in such manner as he sliall 
conceive most proper. 

Resolved, That this house do concur with the Honorable, 
the Senate, in the last preceding resolutions. 



-216 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

Ordered, That Mr. J. Lawrence and Mr. Hiimfrey carry 
a copy of the preceding resolution of concurrence to the 
Honorable, the Senate."' 

Previous to the date of above extract, the Legislature of 
the State had by an act passed March 20, 1781, provided for 
the raising of two regiments for the defence of the State ; 
-and by an act passed March 23, 1782, had further provided 
for the raising ot troops to complete the line of this State in 
the service of the United States ; and two regiments to be 
raised on bounties of lands, and for the further defence of the 
frontiers of this State. The land granted by these last men- 
tioned acts being Bounty Lands. Those granted, as pro- 
vided for in extracts above made, being Gratuity Lands. 

The original acts granting these lands, were subsequently, 
and from time to time, modified and amended, till finally, it 
was ordered by an act passed Feb. 28th, 1789, " That the 
commissioners of the land oflice shall be, and they are here- 
by authorized to direct the Surveyor-General to lay out as 
many townships in tracts of land set apart for such purpose 
as will contain land sufficient to satisfy the claims of all 
such persons who are or shall be entitled to grants of land 
by certain concurrent resolutions, and by the eleventh clause 
of the act entitled "An act for granting certain lands prom- 
ised to be given as bount}- lands, by the laws of this State, 
and for other purposes therein mentioned, passed the 11th 
day of May, 1784; which townships shall respectively con- 
tain 60,000 acres of land, and be laid out as nearly in squares 
as local circumstances will permit, and be numbered one 
progressively, to the last inclusive ; and the commissioners of 
the land office shcdl likewise designate everjj to/rnshp by such name 
as thejj shall deem proper.'^ 

By same act, it was also ordered " that the surveyor gen- 
eral, as soon as may be, shall make a map of each of said 
townships, and each township shall be subdivided on such 
map into one hundred lots, as nearly square as may be, each 
lot to contain 600 acres, or as near that quantity as may be; 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 217 

and the lots in every township shall be numbered from one 
to the last, inclusive in numerical order." 

After sucli map had been made and deposited in the of- 
tice of the Surveyor-General, and in the office of the Secre- 
tary of State, the commissioners were ordered " to advertise 
for six successive weeks, in one or more newspapers printed 
in each of the cities of ISTewYork and Albany, (whereof the 
newspaper published by the printer to this State, if any auch 
there be, shall be one,) requiring all persons entitled to grants 
of bounty and gratuit}^ lands, who had not already exhibited 
their claims, to exhibit the same to the commissioners on or 
before the lirst day of January, 1791." 

By same act, it was further ordered, " that all persons to 
whom lands shall be granted by virtue of this act, and who 
are entitled thereto by any act or resolution of Con^/ress, shall 
make an assignment of his, her or their proportion and 
claim of bounty and gratuity lands under any act or acts of 
Congress, to the Surveyor-General, for the use of the people 
of this State." This being done by the said parties, it was 
provided that for lands thus assigned, an equal number of 
acres were to be given by the State, and so far as possible in 
one tract, and under one patent, " provided the same does 
not exceed one-quarter of the quantity of a township." 

It was also further provided that the ^ands to be granted 
by this act, be actually settled, for every six hundred acres 
Avhicli may be granted to any person or person-^, within seven 
years from the first of January next, aft3r the 'date of the pr.- 
tent by which such lands sliall be granted ; and on failure of 
such settlement, the unsettled lands shall revert to the people 
of this State." The letters patent were ordered ''to be in 
such words and forms as the commissioners shall direct, and 
shall contain an exception and reservation to the People of this 
State, of all the gold and silver mines." 

By an act passed April (3th, 1790, it was ordered "that 
the quantity offfti/ acres, in one of the corners of the re- 
speclivc lots to be laid out in squarjs of 600 acres, shall be 



218 THE POMPEY KE-UNIOX, 

and are liereb}' subject to the payment of tlie sum of forty- 
eight (48) shillings to the Snrve\'or- General, as a compen?'^- 
tion in full for his services and expenses in marking, num- 
bering and surveying each of the said lots: and in every 
case where the said sum of 48 shillings, or any part thereof, 
shall remain unpaid for the term of two years next after the 
issuing of the respective patents, it shall and is hereby made 
the duty of the Surveyor-General to sell the same at public 
vendue; and the money arising from sucli sales, shall bo ap- 
plied in payment of expense of such survey." And in case a 
surplus of money was in hands of the Survev-General, after 
paying such expenses, it was to be applied to the payment of 
expense of laying out and making roads in the said tract." 

By act of Feb. 28, 1789, six lots in each township were 
reserved and were to be assigned, "one for promoting 
tlie gospel, and a public school or schools, one other for pro- 
moting literature in this State, and the remaining four lots 
to satisfy the surplus share of commissioned officers not cor- 
responding with the division of (300 acres, and to compen- 
sate such persons as may by chance draw any lot or lots, the 
greater part of which may be covered with water." 

The act of 1780 provided "that whenever it appeared that 
persons applying for bounty or gratuity land, and had re- 
ceived from Congress the bounty promised by that bod}', or 
in case the}' failed to relinquish their claim to such lands, 
then the commissioners were to reserve for the use of the 
people of the State, one hundred acres in eaih lot to which 
such person was entitled ; designating particularly in which 
part of such lot such reserved part was located. This gave 
rise to the term '■'Slate's Hundred'' so frecpiently applied to 
sections of land on the Military Tract. 

The Land Commissioners consisted of his Excellency, tit 
Governor, or person administering the government of the 
State for the time being, the Lieutenant-Governor, the 
speaker of the Assembly, the Secretary of the State, the 
Attorney-General, the Treasurer and the Auditor thereof, 
the presence of three being necessary to form a quorum. 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 21? 

At a meeting of this Commission, held at the Secretary's 
office in the city of New York, on Saturday, the 3rd day of 
July, 1790, there were present. 

His Excellency, Geo. Clinton, Esq., Governor. 

Lewis A. Scott, Esq., Secretarij. 
Gerard Bancker, Esq., Treasurer. 
Peter T. CuRTENius,Esq., Auditor. 

The Secretary laid before the Board, maps of the surveys 
of twenty-live townships, made by the Surveyor-General — 
Simeon DeWitt. On each of which maps, the said town- 
ships respectively were sub-divided into one hundred lots, 
as nearly square as possible, each lot containing six hundred 
acres, whereupon the Board caused the townships and lots 
therein to be numbered according to the law and designated 
them bri the names they now hear, to wit : — Lysander, Hannibal. 
Cato, Brutus, Camillus, Cicero, Manlius, Pompey, etc. 

The claims of persons entitled to land by virtue of law, 
were presented, and Lewis A. Scott and Robert Harpur 
were appointed to. draw by ballot, (as had been provided br- 
acts of Legislature) the lots of land to which they were en- 
titled. It was resolved that for these lots of land thus 
drawn. Letters Patent should be made by the Secretary, 
signed by the Governor, to which should be affixed the seal 
of the State. The same to be delivered to the original pro- 
prietor, purchaser, attorney, heir, executor or administrator. 

It was also resolved that the " States Hundred," when 
occurring in any lot, should be located in the South-east 
corner of said lot, and be laid out in a square, or as nearly 
so as may be. No resolution being passed or law providing 
for the location of the " Survey Fifty," it was variously 
located. 

The balloting in Township No. 10, or Pompey, resulted 
as follows : 



Patentee's Name and Rank. . .t. "• i,'!!? °, To Whom Del;verca. 



^- Patentee's Name an.1 Rank. ^.^-_ ^^[«,°^ 

1790. 

1 William Dunljar, pri o()0--July 8 Isaac Brook:^ 

2 Cornelius Woodmore, pri (iOO-- " (> Win. J. Vredenburcrh 

3 Jas. Clinion, brig, gen G00-- " 3 Himself 



22) 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 



J^^J^ Patentee's Name and Rank. Acres 

4 Thos, Dixson, matross 600- 

5 Titus Underdunk, pri 500-. 

G Michael Leaster, pri 600- 

7 Jeremiah McGowen, pri 600- 

8 Nanningi; Vanderheyden, heu_-500- 
John Wells, pri 600- 

10 (-reo. Springsteen, pri 600- 

11 Thos. Nellson, matross 600- 

12 Martin Waller, corp 600- 

13 John Snowden, pri 600- 

14 Abram Hyatt, lieut 600-. 

15 John List, pri 600- 

16 Joseph Kitchani-- 600- 

17 Stephen Powell, pri 600- 

18 Joseph Morgan, serg 600- 

1!) John Ramfier 600- 

I'O Stephen McDougall, A-d-C maj.500-. 

21 I^Iathew Colford, lifer 500- 

22 John Chevalier, pri 600- 

'2o Israel Coleman, corp 600- 

Elisha Harvey, lieu 600- 

Reserved for Gospel, &c 

John Brown, matross 600- 

William Murray, pri 600- 

John Lambert, pri 600- 

Geo. Waggonman 600- 

Joseph Maroney, matross 600- 

Reserved for Literature 

Christopher Medler, matross--600- 
Benjamin Kelso or Kely, pri_-500- 

riiilip Caldwell, pri 600- 

Xicnolas \'anRensselaer, capt-600- 

Conrad Hilty, matross 600- 

Isaac Bogert, lieu 600- 

Wiliiam Malcom, col 600- 

Henry Miller, pri 600- 

]\Iatthew Geeson, matross 500_ 

Christian Brandt, pri 600- 

C irnelius T. Jansen, capt 600- 

('ornelius VanTassell, pri 500- 

John P>ateman, lieu 500- 

Wm. Stevens, capt 600- 

l^eonard Chapin, matross 600- 

Conradt Bush, matross 600- 

Wm. Stocker, pri 600- 

John Neilson, tifer 500- 

Chas. Kinney, pri 600- 

Abner Prior, surg'ns mate 400- 

Sniith Wait, matross 600- 

Chas. Parsons, capt 600- 

Samuel Torrev, serg 600- 

J(.hn rthestlal Han JostHe£S)p600- 

John Dobson, pri (500- 

Frcd Weisenfels, lieu. col. com-600- 

David Morrison, serg 500- 

Philip Burch, pri 600- 

Kdward Wright, pri 600- 



24 
25 
2() 
27 
28 
-29 
.•50 
SI 
32 

oo 
0'> 

:14 
;>5 
;56 
')/ 
:JS 
;;9 

40 
41 
42 
43 
44 
45 
46 
47 
48 
40 
5(1 
.51 
52 
53 
54 
55 
M\ 
57 
58 
59 
I )( I 



Paten°t^ To Whom Delivered. 

July 7 Wm. DePeyster 

" 8 Jas. B. Clark 

" 8 Jeremiah VanRensselaer 

" 8 Robert Fowl 

" 29-Gerrit VanSchoonhoven 
" 7 Jeremiah VanRensselaer 

" 8 Wm. Henderson 

" 9 John Quackenboss 

" 8 Simon Veeder 

" 8 Patrick Shay 

" 7 Bernardus Swartwout 

" 8 Major Connolly 

" 8 Capt. Benj. Pehon 

" 8 Himself, by Order 

" 8 Mr. Connolly 

** 8 Wm. Cockburn 

" 3 John Lawrence 

Sep.l3J.B.Clark,per Mrs. Banker 

July 8 Elisha Camp 

" 9 Ebenezer Clark 

" 9 Asa Spaulding 

" 8 Asa Spaulding 

" 8 No Name 

" 8 Michael Connolly 

" 8 John Quackenboss 

" 9 David Quintcn 

" 9 Philip Stoi-.t 

" 8 John Fisher 

" 8 Jeremiah VanRensselaer 

" 9 Himself 

'• 9 Wm. J. Vredenburgh 

" 9 Michael Connollv 

" 9 Him.self 

" 8-Cap.Cooper,forS'lCurrav 

" 9 Maj. Connolly 

" 8 Bartholomew Fisher 

. " 9 Himself 

.Sep.l3--Augustus Sackett, Adm. 

. " 13 ." Elmer Cushing 

July 9 AVm. Moore 

" 9 Samuel Broome 

" 9---Gen. Clinton, for Bush 

. " 8 Maj. Connolly 

" 9 Daniel Rodman 

. " 8 Ebenezer Clark 

. " 9 John Mills, Esq. 

" 6 No Name 

" 9 David Noble, J]sq. 

.Sep.l3 Lieut. Palmer Cady 

-July 8 Jeremiah VanRensselaer 

_ " 8 Jas. Hamilton 

. " 9 Himself 

. " 8 Himself 

. " 8 Jer. VanRensselaer 

- " 8 " '■' 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 221 

Lot Patentee's Name and Rank. ^^^^ Patent^ '^^ Whom Delivered. 

61 Jonathan Briggs, pri 600--July 8 David Crosby, Jr- 

62 Reserved for Gospel, &c 

63 John Shaw 500--Sep.l3 W. J. Vredenburgh 

64 John Brown, matross 600-- " 9 John Lawrence, Esq. 

65 Hanjost Deymont 600— July 8 Peter Smith 

66 Edward Curvin 500- " 8 Wm. CampbeU 

67 Reser'd for Gospel, Schools, &c. 

m John Ryan 600-- " 9 David Quinton 

69 Christian Shantze, pri 600-- " 8 Thos. Duncan 

70 John Ackler, pri 600-- " 3 Nicholas Fish 

71 Thos. O'Bryan, Drummer 500-- " 3 Mr. Connolly 

72 Sam'l Townsend, paymaster, _- -500— Sep.13 Gen. Cortland and others 

73 Reserved for Gospel, &c 

74 Geo. Alkyser, cor 600— July 8 Isaac Stoutenburgh 

75 Martin Rees, pri 600_- " 8 Jas. Lowrey 

76 Wm. F. Dougherty, maj 600— " 8 Lt. Col. VanDyck 

77 John Lamb, col 600-- " 7 Capt. Thompson 

78 Samuel or Lurance Fletcher---500_-Sep.l3 W. J. Vredenburgh 

79 Conradt Hyle 500- "13- " 

80 Ashbel Dean, matrcss 500--July 9 No Name 

81 John Tilliday, pri mO— " 8 Samuel Smith 

82 John H. Devrance, pri 600-- " 8 Jacob Clingman 

83 John George Reamer 500--Sep.l3 Rich. Edwards, Adm. 

84 Samuel Lewis, lieut 600--Augl7 Himself 

85 Daniel Loder, pri 600--July 7 Capt. Hagstafi" 

86 John Bogg, pri 600-- " 8 John Quackenboss 

87 Henry Elliott, pri 500— Aug24 Jacob Elliott 

88 Othniel Preston, pri 600--July 8 Wm. Cockburn 

89 John Thayer, matross 600— " 9 Jos. F. Seb&r 

90 Abijah AVard, pri 600— " 9 John Blanchard 

91 John F. Hamtramck, capt 600-- " 6 Michael Connolly 

92 Thos. Willson, pri 500— " 8— -Jno. Dill for Cor. Rose 

93 Thos. Williams, lieu 600— " 9 John Bag 

94 James Purdey, matross 500-- " 9 Elias Newman 

95 Jeremiah VanRensselaer, lieu-600_- " 8 Himself 

96 Reser'd for Gospel, Schools, &c. 

1791. 

97 HanyerTewahangaraghkan,cap600--Jan.29--- ---Michael Connolly 

98 Christopher Codwise, lieu 600_-July 7 W. J. Vredenburgh 

99 Barnardus Swartwout, ensign--600_- " 7 Himself 

100 James McCov, pri 600-- " 8 Elisha Camp 



The followino^ tabular statonicnt shows the several owners 
of each lot of land in the township of Pompc}', from 1790 to 
1800, as recorded in County Clerk's Office, Onondago Co. 

The Revolutionary soldier, Mr. Conrad Bush, relates 
"that at the time his regiment was discharged, so often had 
they been disappointed by the promises of Congress, that 
when their certificates were made out for their individual 
shares of land, a large majority had no confidence in the al- 



2'2Z THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

lotiiiGiit of these bounties, and many cried out, ''who wdl 
give a pint of rum for mine ? Who will give a blanket for 
mine V A great many sold tlieir shares for the merest 
trifle.'"— (Clark.) 

It will be observed by this table, that the records conlirm 
Mr. Bush's statement : at least circumstantially, for we see 
that soldiers sold or conveyedtheir titles, in many instances, 
more than once ; and we are not sure that the consideration 
named in the deed was tliat actuall}- received. 

At so early a date as 1790, it was not possible for deeds to 
have been recorded, and no " searching the Records,"' could 
avail to assure purchasers as to the validity of their claims. 
Frauds were practiced in selling titles. In this town the 
soldiers themselves, did not, except in two or three instan- 
ces, settle upon their lands. 

It will be noticed that the dates of deeds and tlie time of 
actual settlement by the purchaser do not agree. The set- 
tlement dating anterior to the conveyance. 

The reason for this, we have not been able to ascertain. 

LOT OXE. 
Date of Sale. GRANTOR. GRANTEE. Acres. Consd'n 

July 8, 179()-_State of Xew York William Dunbar 500--Soldier 

Sep. 12, 1791 --William Dunl)ai' Isaac Brooks 500— 25 pds. 

Aug. 28, 1795- - " " -Benjamin Wallace- --5G0i -GO pels. 

"' 31, 1796- -Isaac Wells " " ---un. li'f— 10s. 

Sept. 5, 1797--Zebulon Mary Zephaniah Piatt 500 10s. 

Xov. 17, ]798--Onon. ronmiissioner.s-Benj. Wallace 500 awarded 

'' 29, 1798 __ " '• Elkiinali Watson 100 

EOT TAYO. 

July 0, 1790--State of Xew York Cornelius AVoodmore O00--Solcliei- 

Eeb'vS, 1789-_C. AVoodmore AA^. J. Yredenburgh--GOO-val. re'd 

3Iar.*18, 179()--AV. J. Yredenburgh- --Comfort Tyler---" 000-240 pds. 

Oct'r 5, 1790 --Comfort Tyler Moses Carpenter ;]40---§l,250 

Afterwards — " "' Jos. Bartholomew — 200 

■ Stephen Amtell 100 

•• ElijahEust-'- 20 

LOT THREE. 

July 3, 1790--State of Xew York Jos. Clinton, brin.gen.OOO- -Soldier 

:Mar.27, 1792--Jos. Clinton Moses DeAA^itt-T 000-000 pds. 

Subsequently divided among his heirs, who settle<l lot. 
LOT FOER. 

July 7, 1790--State of Xew York Thomas Uixson ()U0--S()ldier 

LOT FIYE. 
Julv 8, 1790--State of Xew York Titus I"nderdunck---500--Soldicr 



THE rOMPEY RE-UNION. 22-3 

Diite of Sale. GRANTOR. GRANTEE. Acres. CoiiscVn 

Mar. ."., 17!HL-Titus T'nderdunk David Holbrook 450-150 pds. 

Aug. K), 17US--C0111. Tyler, as i^heriif, 

sold D. Holbrook's int.Benj. (Jrnver 450 $0.00 

■' 21, 179S--Benj. Grover Nathaniel Westou_— 450-— $15.00 

Apr. 28, 1707--Surveyor-Geiieral Jer. YanKeiisselaer_-150 

J. VanEensselaer John Rogers 100 

Jas. Caldwell McGregoi- 100 

Onon. Goiiunissioners-Heirs of Rog. & ]McG100 

LOT SIX. 

July 8, 1790_-State of New York Michael Leaster COO--Soldier 

Nov. 25, 1790_-Michael Leaster Jer. VanRensselaer--(;i)()__20 pds. 

Aug. 0, 17n2--VanRensse]aer David Hibl)ard ()00-200 pds. 

LOT SEVEN. 

Julv s, 1700— State of New Yoik Jer. McGowen ()00-_Soldier 

Mar. 24, 1784-.Jer. McGowen Robert Tnwt 000 

June20, 179;5--Robt. Towt Isaac Beekman (iOO 

LOT EIGHT. 

July 2ii, ]790--Statc' of New York Nan. Vandcrhevden-50()--Sol(lier 

LOT NINE. 

July 7, 179i)--State of New York John Wells (SOO— Soldier 

Dec. 11, l(S;;__John Wells Edward Crompton---000-.-10 pd.s. 

Feb. 20, 1785- " ■' Jos. Johnson 000 $20 

Oct'r 7, 179U--Edword Cromi^ton Jer. YanRensselaer--000--20 ])ds. 

Fcl). 29, 1792-Jcr. VanRenssclaer ct 

AbramTenEyck Sani'l .Messenger :')0(L120 pds. 

•■ 2:!, ]<90-- " "■ " '• ^ :!00_:!20 i)ds. 

:.Iar. 1 798-_ Abiathar Hull, as Sher- 
itf, by virtue of excc'n 

ag'st Elias Jackson Robert Jordan (UjO 

June 8, ]79'.)--Onon. Commissioners-Sani'l Messenger (iOO 

LOT TEN. 

July 8, 1790__Statc of New York Geo. Springsteen O00_-Soldier 

Nov. 8, 178:]--(ieo. Springsteen JonathanOwen 000--13 pds. 

Apr. 4, 178>i-_ " " W. J. Yredenburgh--000 

Nov. :>, 17!)l--Wm. Constable Josiah O. Hoffman --000 

June ;], 1794--J. O. Hoffman Wni. Cooper ---000 

■■ :!, 1794--'\Yni. Cooper Thos. R. Gold 300 

• 29, 1790--Thos. R. Gold David Campbell 300-300 pds. 

r,.<iv. :;], T.so] __()i]on. Commissioners -Jonathan Owen (iOO awarded 

LOT ELEVEN. 

July 9, i790_-State of New York Thos. Nellson O00--Soldier 

Aug. 29, 1783_-Thos. Nellson Augustus Jones 000--13 ])ds. 

Nov. 12, 1784--Augustus Jcn?s f John (^lackenboss 

j Garrett Patterson -- 

(Leonard Fishers 375 

Sc}). 13, 1791 --John (^)uackenboss John Lawrence 

LOT TWELVE. 

July 8, 1790--State of New York Martin Walker OOO-.Soldii'V 

Apr. 5, 1785--Z'.Iartin AValker Lincoln Veeder 

Mar. 3, 1792~-Lincoln Veeder Jacob Judson (iOO-lOO pils. 

" 29, 1792--Jacol) Judson David Tripp 100 oi< 

May 30, 1792- '• - Chas. Tripp 100 

Sep. 29, 1792-- - ■ Elnathan Pickard --- 40 

Ort'r 8, ]794--Lcwis Day Asa Starkwathcr 100—72 pds. 



224 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

Date of Sale. GRANTOR. GRANTEE. Acres. Consd'n 

July 17, 179o--.Tacob Judson _ — Sam'l Edwards 27--30 pds. 

" 17, ni)-")-- " " Levi Jerome 244-195 pds. 

Nov. IS, 1795_^Jo!^. Annin " " 156- -90 pds. 

LOT THIRTEEN. 

July S, 1790--State of New York Johu Snowdcn GOO--Soldier 

.Ino.Snowden probablvPatrick Shay 000 

Aue. 24. 1790- -Patrick Shav -W. J. Vredenburgh--000--30 pd.s. 

May :)0, 1797--W. J. Yredenburgh---Wm. Haskius (iOO-SOO pds. 

Apr. 4, 179S--Wm. Raskins Reuben Hustis 150-450 pds. 

LOT FOURTEEN. 

July 7, 1790_-State of New York Abram Hyatt G00--Soldier 

Abrani Hyatt i)robablyW. J. Yredenburgh-- 

May l(i, 1795--W. J. Yredenburgh — Caleb Northrup 50 ;)7 p;Ls. 

LOT FIFTEEN. 

Julv S, 179l)--State of New York John List O00--Soldier 

"" 29, 1789--John List Isaac Bogert 600--12 pds. 

Sept. 4, 17K4— " " Henrv Plature (300--12 pds. 

Aug. 14, 17;J2--Isaac' Bogert Jeremiah Gold 000-480 pds. 

LOT SIXTEEN. 

July S, 1 79(L-State of New York Joseph Kitchum ()00--Soldier 

Aug. 10, 17!n--.b)seph Kitchxun Benj. Pelton ()00--o5 pds. 

LOT SEYENTEEN. 

Julv 8, 1790--State of New York StephenPowell OUO--Soldier 

Sep". 15, 1795- -Stephen Powell John Sprague OtX)-100 pds. 

Mar. ]. 1790- -John Sprague f Jno. D. Dickinsou- 

\ Elijah Jones 000 $4S0 

LOT EIGHTEEN. 

Julv s, 179»)-_State of New York Joseph Morgan 600--Soldier 

"* 0, 1791 --Joseph Morgan Theodorous^Fowler- J)00--40 pds. 

Oct'r 4, 179]--Theo. Fowler Nicholas Fish 000 

Sep. 10, lS00--Onon. Commissioners- " " 000 awarded 

LOT NINETEEN. 

Julv 8, 1790--State of New York John Pansier O00--Soldier 

Nov. 17, 178:?--John Pansier Thos. Tillotson 000-5 pds.ctc 

Aug.18, 1790-- " " Isaac Davis 500 

Jan. ]:;, 179()-- " " Elkanah Watson 000 $105. 

Ajjr. 10, 1794--Thos. Tillotson J. W. Gold 000 

Jan. 22, 1797- -Elkanah Watson " " 000 

Mav 2;>, lS00--Onon. Commissioners- " " 000 awarded 

LOT TWENTY. 

Julv :;, 1790--Stati> of New York Stephen McDougall--500--Sold:er 

Mar. ;;. 17i>7— Po))t.McClelleu,claim- 

ing patent from State--Alex. Ellice 000 -- 

LOT TWENTY-ONE. 

Sep. i:5, 179(i--State of New York Matthew Colford 500--Sold:er 

Colford's heirs f Jas. B. Clark 

( Joshua Briggs 500 

Feb. 2, 17!»i)--J<i>liua Briggs Chas. Roys-- J. 225 

'• 22, 17!tO-- •• """ r Sam'l Messenger -- 

I Sam'l Edwards 225-234 pds. 

LOT TWENTY-TWO. 

July 8, 1790--State of New York John Chevalier O00--Sol(lier 

Felj. 8, ]7S5--Jolin Chevalier Elisha Camp 000 



THE POMPET RE-UNION. 225 

Date of Sale. GRANTOR. GRANTEE. Aeres. Consd'n 

Apr. 15, 1791--ElishaCamp Wm. Constable 600 

Nov. 3, 1791— Wm. Constable Josiah O. Hoffman --600 

LOT TWENTY-THREE. 

July 9, 1790--State of New York Israel Coleman 600— Soldier 

Sep. 17, 1784--Israel Coleman Rob't Shutes 300--30 pds 

Feb. 6, 1797- " " " " 300-150 pds. 

May 6,1790- " " Ebenezer Clark 600-^ 

" 12, 1798— Ebenezer Clark Enos Peck 600-525 pds. 

Dec. 18, 1798__Onon. Commissioners-Ebenezer Clark 600 awarded 

LOT TWENTY-FOUR. 

July 9, 1790--State of New York Elisha Harvey 600--Soldier 

Aug. 10, 1793--Elisha Harvey Ebenezer Gay 600--45 pds 

" 10,1793- " " Asaph Drake 100 _10s' 

May 2,1795-- " " Joseph Hurst 180 

Dec. 6, 1800- -Onon. Commissioners-Ebenezer Gay 600 awarded 

LOT TWENTY-FIVE. 
Reserved for Gospel. 

LOT TWENTY- SIX. 

July 6, 1790--State of New York John Brown 600 Soldier 

" 18, 1792— Asa Spaulding, Att'y 

for John Brown Joseph Purdy 600 

.Tan. 13, 1798--John Brown, person'y Samuel Cobb 600 ; 

July 18, 1792--Joseph Purdy Ephriam Willard 600 

Bept. 8, 1792--Ephriam Willard Samuel Beebee 

Sam'l Beebee Josiah Bigelow 

Mar. 1, 1802--Onon. Commissioners-Sam'l Beebee 600 awarded 

LOT TWENTY-SEVEN. 

July 8, 1790--State of New York Wm. Murray 600--8oldier 

Jan'y 4, 1792-_Wm. Murray [John Robinson.-- 

Oct. 28, 1795- " " -- t Daniel Hall 600- 64 pds 

" 28,1795-- " " r Jeremiah Schuyler 

\ John J. Cuyler 600—80 pds. 

Jan'y 5, 1792--Daniel Hall John Robinson 300—10 pds. 

" 6, 1792— John Robinson Jer. VanRensselaer--600--53 pds.' 

Dec. 10, 1794--Asa Danforth Richard Hiscock 100-130 pds! 

JnnelO, 1795-- " " Aaron Bellows 100-140 pds' 

LOT TWENTY-EIGHT. 

July 8, 1790_-State of New York John Lambert 600--Soldier 

Nov. 26, 1796--John Lambert Nathan Williams 600 - $50t> 

Oct'r 3, 1797-Nathan Williams 

LOT TWENTY-NINE. 

July 8, 1790-_State of New Y^ork Geo. Waggonman 600— Soldier 

Nov. 7, 1789__Geo. Waggonman John Quackenboss 600 

April 1, 1792- " " Michael O'Brien --600-40 pds". 

July 27, 1790--John Quackenboss Henry TenBrooks---600 

Joseph Annin Levi Jerome 146--90 pds. 

LOT THIRTY. 

July 9, 1790--State of New York Joseph Maroney 600--Soldier 

Feb'y 1, 1784--Joseph Maroney Peter Nestell 600---8 pds. 

Jan'y 2, 1793— Peter Nestell Moses Phillips 600 . 

May 1, 1793— Moses Phillips John Grant 600-100 pds. 

June 3, 1791 --David Quinlan, as as- 
signee of J. Maroney-- Wm.Dur 600- 

15 



226 THE I'OMPEY KE-UNION. 

LOT THIKTY-ONK. 

Date of .Sale. GRANTOR. GRANTEE. Ac-Te:<. Consd'u 

Keser'd for Gospel, &c. 

. LOT THIKTY-TWO. 

Julv !), 17i)0--State of New York C;hristoi)her Medler--()00--Soldior 

Alio-. 10, 179;J-- Christopher Medler-.-Biu-khart Livingston-600--40 j.ds. 

Ort'r 1, 1704--B.Living.ston Thos. Cooper 600 

Jan. I'L'. 170(1- -Thos. Cooj^er Geo. D. Wickhanv---GOO 

Onon. Connnissioners-lleirs of C. INledler — 600 

LOT THIRTY-THREE. 

July S, 171»0--State of New York Benjamin Kelso 500--Soldier 

Feb. 27. 1784-_Benj. Kelso ( Geo. Bartholoniew- 

( John Fisher 500 

]Mav !). 17!>;')-- '• '■ Joshua Brigo-s 500 

Mar. Jl, 1704- - " " I Ei)hriani jNLtrwin-- 

( riiil. VanCortland-500- -1:500.00 

Mav (i, 1705-^ " " Gideon Ball 500--S0 pds. 

'•" 6, 1706_-l)aniel Kelso, l)roth c\: 

heir of Benj. Kclso — -Robert Smith 500 

:\Lir. 15, ]707--I)aniel Kelso • Evander Childs --- 

(Luke Owens 500--40 jxls. 

Dec. 1704--Isaac Smith i^ others--Joshua Fisher 500 

July ■2-2. 1704 --Francis Warner Chas. Tripp 100 1100 

Onon. CnnimissiDiiers- ( John FLsher 333^ --- — .- 

F lean ore Clark 

(:Miron Clark 166n 

LOT TlllRTY-FOUK. 

Julv <s, 1700--State of New York Philip Cadwell 600--Soldier 

Aug. S, 17^3--Philip Cadwell Joseph Cadwell 600 

Jan. n, 1706-- " " ( ieo. Pear.son 600-400 pds. 

:\ray 10, 1706--< leo. Pear.^on Joseph Cadwell 600 

LOT THIRTY-FIVE. 

Julv 0, 1700--State of New York N. A'anRensselaer ---()00--Soldier 

Oct'r 4, i704--Jeremiali (lold labez Hull a part-_$400 

Mav :5n, 170()--Jabez Hull las. Low 133-i;-;8 pds. 

^lay 30, 1706 - '• " --_: Nttali Hoyt 50--50 jxl*^. 

LOT THIRTY-SIN. 

Julv 0, 1700--State of New York.. --Conrad Hilty 600--S(ildici- 

"■ s; 1702- -Conrad llihy Thos. Ruggles 600-11O j.ds. 

LOT TIIIUTY-SEN'EX. 

Julv 0, ]70()-_State of New York IsaaeBogart 

Aua-. 14, 1702--Isaac Boirart Jeremiah Gold_- 

Mav 4, 1705-- Jeremiah Gold L Tho.s. Coe 

LOT THIRTY-EIGHT. 
..lulv '.». 1700- -State of New York----Wm. Malcome _- 
LOT THIRTY-NINE. 

July -s, ]70;)--State of New York Henry Miller--. 

June2l, l7S:'>-_Henry Miller Samuel Cary 

Nov. 4, lS73-_ " " " Edward Crampton-- -600 

Mar. lo. 17S4--Euward Crampton Nathaniel Piatt (){10--10 i)ds. 

LOT FORTY. 

Julv 0. 170(i--State of New Yoik Mattlu'W Geeson 5U0--Soldier 

]MattheW'(ieeson Nehemiah Rockwell-500--10 pds. 



-(iOO- 


-So 


Idler 


-600- 


4<S0 


pds. 


-600- 


360 


pds. 


.600- 


-So 


Idler 


-(iOO- 


-Si> 


Idler 


-600- 


-10 


pds. 



THE POMPEY RE-UNIOX. 



227 



Date of Sale. 
Nov'r 2, 1790- 
Julv 2, 179] . 
Ocfr 4, 1792- 
Mar. :;. 179(>- 



Jiily 8, 1790- 
Sep'r G, 1783- 
Telj. 14, 1784- 
Aug. 80, 1784- 
Apr. 27, 1795- 
Sep'r 2, 1795- 
I)('c"r 1. 1794- 



Julv 



0, 1790- 
■A. 179()- 



Sep. i;'., 1790. 
June 9. 1792- 
Xov'r4, 1790- 

Sep. i;i, 1700-- 



Julv 0, 1 
Dec. Mm, 1 

Dec. 20, 1 
Julv 22. 1 
i)er. s, 1 



Julv 0, 1 
. '•" 7,1 
Jaii'v 5. T 



July 

Nov'r 



Julv s. 1 

Sop'r 2, T 

Mar. 2:!. 1 

1. 1 

Julv 0, 1 
Au--. 4. 1 
Feb'y 1 . 1 

Julv S, 1 
Auu-. 28, 1 



0I»- 



GR.\NTOR. GRANTEE. Acres 

Nehe. Rockwell :Mordecai Hall 500- 

Mordecai HiiU Theodosius Fowler-_500 

Theo. Fowler Nicholas Fish ^500 

Nicholas Fish - ( Abram Smith i- 

t 3Ianoali Pratt . 500 - 

LOT FOETY-ONF. 

State of New YorkI .--Christian Brandt 600- 

Christian Brandt Bernard Bond^--.-— 000- 

" (;. B. cl- J. Fisher 000- 

Isaac Smith 000- 

Bernard Bond Ithel Battle 000- 

Isaac Smith John Fisher 000- 

James Saidler i^ 

Isaac. U. Smith Bohert Petit 000- 

Ohon. Connnissioners-John Fisher 000 

LOT FORTY-TWO. 

State of New York Oornelius T. Jansen_-fi00- 

('. T. Jansen David Green MOO- 
LOT FORTY-TIIKKL. 

State of New York Cornelius VanTassell 500- 

C. VanTassell's heirs- -John Ilagaman 500- 

Onon. Commissioners- Robert Troup 500 

LOT FORTY-FOI'R. 

State of New York John Batemau 500 

John Bateman's Att'v- f John Jacob Astor-- 

( Peter Smith- 500 

• LOT FORTY-FIVE. 

State of New York Wm. Stevens 

Wm. Stevens ( Silas Ilolbi 

( Abiather Hull 000 

Silas Holbrook Abiather Hull oOO 

Abiather Hull Ambros Hull 100 

V Betsey Lego-ett 500 

LOT FORTY-SIX. 

State of New York-- --Leonard Chapin 000 

Leonard Chapin Samuel Broome (JOO 

Samuel Hroonie ( John Patterson 

I. W. J. ^'redenl)urgllOOO 
LOT FORTY-SEVEN. 

State of New York Conradt Bush- 

Conradt Bush Elias- Jackson _ 

LOT FORTY-EIGHT; 

State of New^' York Wm. Stocker-- 

Wm. Stocker ----AVm. Haskins- 

El jenezer Lowell Jacob Hoar 

Wm. Haskins Jos. Grifiins--- 

LOT FORTY-NINE. 

State of New York lohn Neilson 500 

John Nielson Dudley Woodbridge-500 

Dudley Woodbridge- -Moses" DeWitt - 

LOT FIFTY. 

State of New York Chas. Kinney (iOO 

Chas. Kinney p]benezer Clark 000 

Onon. Commissioners- " " 000 



.000. 



000. 

(iOO, 

(iOO 

- — 000. 
-- 50. 

---.100. 



C'onsd'n 
-43 pds. 



500 pds. 
-Soldier 



--2 pds. 
-40 pds. 



awarded 

--Soldier 
-180 pds. 

-Soldier 
-300 pds. 
awarded 

-Soldier 
.150 pds. 

--Soldier 

-3()0 pds. 
-100 pds. 

-?!1 100.00 

-Soldier 
---0 pds. 



-Soldier 
450 pds. 

-Soldier 
-14 pds. 
-10 pds. 
-ijil 00.00 

-Soldier 
-20 ixis. 
- S337.50 

-Soldier 
-Soldier 
awarded 



228 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 



Date of Sale 
July 9,1790 
Oct'r 12 
May 30, 
May 1 



1791. 
1793. 
1796- 



July 
Mar. 14, 
Apr. 16, 
Oct'r 5, 
Apr. 18, 
June 9, 
Aug. 5, 
Mar. 21, 



July 9 
May 1 
May 23 
Nov. 4 



Sep. 13, 
Mar. 21, 
Oct'r 24, 

Nov. 10, 
June 21, 
Oct'r 5, 

July 8, 
Jan. 15, 
Apr. 12, 
May 13, 

July 8, 

" 2 

Feb. 1?, 

Nov. 28, 



1790- 
1784- 
1791- 
1791- 
1795- 
1796- 
1796- 
1800- 

1790- 
1792- 
1794- 
1799- 

1790- 
1791- 
1792- 

1792- 
1793- 
1792- 
1796- 

1790- 
1791- 
1792- 
1795- 

1791- 
1796- 
1791. 
1798- 



LOT FIFTY-ONE. 
GRANTOR. GRANTEE. Acres. Consd'n 

-State of New York Abner Prior 400--Soldier 

-Abner Prior Jacob Hallett 400-115 pds. 

-Jacob Hallett Trueworthy Cook 400 1300 

- " " Nicholas Low 200 

LOT FIFTY-TWO. 

-State of New York Smith AVait 600— Soldier 

-Smith Wait William Bell 600 

. " " Isaac Miller 600—20 pds. 

-Isaac Miller Frances,M. Wickham600--75 pds. 

-Jonathan Bunnell Geo. D. Wickham — 600-100 pds. 

-William Bell Walter Wood 

-Walter Wood Deodatus Clark 600-709 pds. 

-Onon. Commissioners- " " 600 awarded 

LOT FIFTY-THREE. 

-State of New York Chas. Parsons 600--Soldier 

-Chas. Parson Josiah Holbrook, Jr.-300— 20 pds. 

-Josiah Holbrook Baruch Holbrook 75 

-Onon. Commissioners -Robt. Troup 50 awarded 

LOT FIFTY-FOUR. 



-600- -Soldier 
-600 

.600-240 pds. 
.100—40 pds. 
.140—56 pds. 
. 54-30 pds. 
-160 

-600-Soldier 
-600— 5shil. 
.600--5 shil. 
.600 



-State of New York Samuel Torry — -_- 

-Samuel Torry Elisha Gridley 

-Palmer Cade 

Elisha Gridley Ozias Burr — 

-Ozias Burr William Cook 

. " " David Allen 

-Nathaniel Meghell " " 

-Ozias Burr Nathaniel MeghilL- 

LOT FIFTY-FIVE. 

-State of New York John Uthest 

_ Jno. Uthest alias Hass- Jer. VanRensselaer. 

-Jer. Van Renssellaer-.Eleanor Bassitt 

-Eleanor Bassett Jas. S. Tripp 

LOT FIFTY-SIX. 

-State of New York John Dobson 600--Soldier 

-John Dobson Barney Connolly 600-250 pds. 

- " " Henry A. Tanner 600— 10 pds. 

-Onon. Commissioners-Henry A. Townsend-600 awarded 
JohnTayler 50 

LOT FIFTY-SEVEN. 

-State of New York Fred Weisemfels 600— Soldier 

-Fred. Weisemfels Richard Piatt 600—10 pds. 

_ " " Jer. Van Rensselaer- -600 

-Richard Piatt Sam'l Meradeth 600 

-Onon. Commissioners- " " 600 awarded 

LOT FIFTY-EIGHT. 

-State of New York David Morrison 500--Soldier 

-David Morrison Simeon VanAntwerp 500 

Robert McClellan John Rogers 100 

-Jas .Cadwell Call McGregor 100 

Onon, Commissioners-John Rogers 100 awarded 

LOT FIFTY-NINE. 
July 8, 1790— State of New York Philip Burch 600--Soldiei' 



July 9,1790- 

" 11,1789- 

" 2. 1795- 

May 3, 1795- 

Dec. 0, 1800- 

July 8, 1790- 
Dec. 29, 1791- 

Jan. 22, 1796. 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 229 

Date of Sale. GRANTOR. GRANTEE. Acres. Consd'n 

Dec. 15, 1783--Philip Burch Edward Crampton---600— 10 pds. 

Oct. 2, 1790— Edward Crampton Jer. VanRensselaer--600--20 pds. 

Apr. 2, 1795- -Jonas Stansbury /Isaac Nicoll 

t Walter D. Nicoll— 300-700 pds. 

Nov. 2, 1796--Abram Ten Eyck Joseph Rodes 300 

Mar. 19, 1798— Asa Danforth John Carpenter 600 

Dec. 24, 1800--Onon. Commissioners-Daniel Pixley 300 awarded 

" 24,1800-- " " Abram TenEyck — 300 

LOT SIXTY. 

July 8, 1790— State of New York Edward Wrijjht GOO— Soldier 

May 30, 1794--Edward Wright f p:ben. Willoughby- 

\ Walter Wood 600-50 pds. 

Mar. 3, 1789— " " Jos. Shelden 

Nov. 4, 1794- -Walter Wood Abiather Hull 600-480 pds. 

May 20, 1795--Jas. Shelden Elkanah Watson 550-100 pds. 

" 5, 1797--Abiather Hall Walter Wood 

Jan. 10, 1798— Elkanah Watson Asa Smith 

Dec. 23, 1800- -Onon. Commissioners- John Tayler 50 awarded 

LOT SIXTY-ONE. 

July 8, 1790--State of New York Jonathan Briggs 600_-Soldier 

Feb'y 6, 1792- -Timothy Titus & Wm. 

W. Morris assignees of 

David Crosby, Att'y of 

Jonathan Briggs John Carpenter 

LOT SIXTY-TWO. 
Reser'd for Gospel, &c. 
Aug. 12, 1800- -Onon. Comraissioners-Theo. V. W. Graham 50 awarded 
LOT SIXTY-THREE. 

Sep. 12, 1790— State of New York John Shaw 500--Soldier 

LOT SIXTY-FOUR. 

Sept. 9, 1790--State of New York John Brown 600— Soldier 

Jan. 30, 1797--John Brown- Sam'l Cobb, Jr 600 $199 

Apr. 19, 1784-.. " " Alex.McDougall 3pds.— 4s. 

July 10, 1792--EX. Alex. McDougall-John Lawrence 600 

Dec. 27, 1796--Kbenezer Butler, Jr-.-Benj. Butler 50J^-30 pds. 

Feb. 26, 1798-- " " --Ezra Hart 100 $im 

LOT SIXTY-FIVE. 

-State of New York Hanjost Deymont 600--Soldier 

-Deymont's Widow Ezra Hull 600--50 pds. 

-Ezra Hull Ebenezer Butler, Jr.-600--40 pds. 

-Ebenezer Butler, Jr-- -Nathan Davis 100 |lOO 

---John Willard 2 |129 

LOT SIXTY-SIX. 

July 8, 1790--State of New York Edwin!Carvin 500--Soldier 

Mav 20, 1792--Edwin Carvin Eh. Kellogg, Jr 500—25 pds. 

Nov. 24, 1792--Eliphalet Kellogg, Jr.-Jas. B. Clark 500 

Dec. 9, 1793--Edwin Carvin--! Dan'l Delivan 500— -2 pds. 

Oct. 14, 1794- -Daniel DeSavin Philip VanCourtland 500--25 pds. 

Mar. 2, 1796--Wm. Gilhland John D. Dickinson---100 

Apr. 13, 1795 --Augustus Sackett Jo.s. B. Clark 

May 6, 1796_-Jos. B. Clark Sam'l Sackett 

1799--Onon. Commissioners-Philip VanCourtland 350 awarded 

1799-- " " Theo. V. W. Graham 50 

— — -1799-. " " John D. Dickinson— 100 



Sept. 


9, 


1790 


Nov. 


1, 


1793 


Mar. 


3, 


1795 


Oct. 




1798 


" 


4, 


1798 



230 



THE POMPEY HE-UNION. 



LOT SIXTY-SEVEN. 
Date of Sale GRANTOR. GR.\NTEE. Acres. Consd'n 

IJoser'd for Ctosix^I, &c. 

LOT SIXTY-EIGHT. 

July 9, 1790--St.ate of Xew York John Kyan ()00--Soldier 

Mar. :5, 179K_Johu Evan Daniel Quinton BOO 

July ]4, 178;>-_ " " Anthony Maxwell— -000--1] pds. 

June .'5, ]792--Duniel Quinton AVm. Duer 600 

Nov. 15, 1792--Anthony Maxwell Eolx'rt Affleek (300 

" 2, 1795_-John Ryan ( Jer. Schuyler 

tJohnCuyler OOO 

" 12, 1794--Robert Affleek Sam'l Beebee 

Jan. ."., 179r)__C'. Olbrath Jas. Greenleaf 000-140 pds. 

Dec. 14, 1799--Ouon. Commissioners-Sam'l Beebee--- 000 awarded 

LOT SIXTY-XIXE. 

July 8, 1790--State of Xew York Christian Shantze ---(;00__Soldier 

Apr. 5, 1792— Christian Shantze Wm.W.Gale 

Dec. 0, 1799--Onon. Commissioners-Geo. D. Wickliam 000 awarded 

LOT SEVEXTY. 

July r>, 1790— State of Xew York Tohn Ackler —000— Soldier 

Aug. 24, 1784— John Ackler Abrani Freer 000—11 pds. 

Oct. 24, 1790- -Xicholas Fish Jos. McCluer 000 

Sept. 20, 1792--Jos. McCluer JohnLandj ' 200 $200 

Scpt.20, 1792— " " Sam'l Draper 200 |200 

LOT SEYEXTY-OXE. 

July 3, 1790--State of Xew York Thos. O'Bryan ^-O00--Soldier 

Jan. 20, 1784--Thos. O'Brvan Alex. McDouaall 50O-_:3 pds. 

Dec. 20, 1790-- '• "" Jos. C. Yates 1----- 

John Prince ^500 

July 1797--Jcr. \'au lvenssellaer--John Rogers 100 

1799_-(>n()n. ( 'ommissioners-Johu Taylor .10 awarded 

1799-- •• •' Ileirsof John Rogers 1 00 

LOT SE^'E^■TY-TWO. 

Sept.l.'], 1790--State of Xew York— .--Sam'l Townsend o00--Soldier 

Dee. 10, 1790--Sanuiel Townsend Elijah Hunter riOO-_00 pds. 

Xqv. 20, 1791— Elijah Hunter Phil. VanCortland---oOO 

Onon. (.'ommissioners, " " ."ISO 

" Theo. V. \V. (iraham Ino awarded 

LOT SEVEXTY-THREE. 
Ixcser'd for Gosj^el, &c. 

LOT SEVEXTY-FOIR. 

July S, 1790--State of Xew York Geo. Alkvscr (iOO-.Soldier 

May 5, 1793— Geo. Alkvser AVm. Radclitf. Jr 000 

William Radcliff, Jr -Isaac Hall 300 

Onon. Commissioners-^\'m. Radclifi' H'f awarded 

Isaac Hall H'f 

LOT SE\^EXTY-FIVE. 

July 8, 17SM)--Stute of Xew York Martin Rees (iOO-.Soldior 

Sept.lO, 178:5--Martin Ree;^ --James Luvrey (;00_10 S])an. 

Mar. 23, 1793— Cornelius Glen los. Anning- -000 

LOT SEVEXTY-SIX. 

July 8, 1790--State of Xew York Wm. F. Dougherty- --(iOO-- Major 

Mar. 8, 1789--Wm. F. Dougherty Robt. Dunlop ".---()00--10 pds. 

Feb. 19, 1790--Mathew Yisscherl Albelower\stcpentine000--25 pds. 



l\ 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 231 

1 .()T S FA' EXT Y -S I'] \' EX . 
Date of Sale. URANTOR. GRANTEE. Acres. CoiiscVn 
Jnl,v 7, 1 7H0-. State (^f Xew York John Laml) (iOOJ 'olonol. 

LOT SEVEXTY-EIGIIT. 

Sept. ];"!, 17H0__State of Xew York Sam'l Fletcher 500-- Majoi; 

Heins of Fletcher W. J. \'redenburgh--oOO $650 

Feb. S, 1 79(L-Peter F^hnendorf- ^ ^ --Reuben Pixlev 100 840O 

Deo. 22, 171)o__AVm. J. Vredenbiirgh-Jos. B. t'hark 500 

Jos. B. Clark --Renben Pixlev 450 

OiKiii. ( V)inmissioner.^-Th. \'anW. (irahani- 50 awarded 
Peter Elmeudorf 100 

LOT SEVEXTY-XIXE. 

Sept.i:3, 1790--State of Xew YoiHc Conradt Hvle 500--Soldier 

May 15, 1798--Conradt Flvle Sam'l Hackett 500 $37 

" 10, 1796--Saimiel Hackett Renben Pixlev 50 

.Tune 1, 1797- - '' " las. B. Clark 200 

July 1797--Jer. Wn Rens.selaer---John Rosers 100 

June 21. 1790--.Jas. Cadwell Call ^ilcCregor 100 

Onon. Commissioners-IIeiv.^of John Rogers-lOO awarded 

LOT EKiHTY. 

Julv 9, 1790 --State of Xew York Ashbel ])ean 500--Soldier 

Apr. 20, 1790— Ashbel Dean Stephen Thorn 500--40 pds. 

3Iar. 14, 1790--Stephen Thorn Charles Roe 500-200 pds. 

F'eb. 10, 1792-Timothy Benedict Phil. AanCortland---.500__45 pds. 

1800--Onon. Connnissioners-I^eter E. F^linendorf-- 50 awarded 

LOT EIGHTY-OXE. 

July 8, 1790--State of Xew York John Tilldav O00--Soldier 

Oct. 14, 1789--John Tilldav ^^am'l Smitli (iOO .--_ -|o. 

July 5, 1791--Samutd Smith-- - Chas. Plait Rogers- --000- -25 pds. 

LOT EI( ;IITY-TW(). 

July 8, 17i»0--State of Xew York John IL Deverance--O00--Soldier 

Jan. 10, 1799--John 11. Deverance — Joshua Briggs --_ ()00--fi7 pds. 

Apr. 10, 179:!--John IL Deverance — Jacob Clingman — i-()00--45 pds; 

3Iay 3, 1793--Jacob Chngmau Jos. B. Clark -.000 

F'eb. 22, --Hugh Sackey 

Joshua Briggs 1). & Smith IIibbard-450-495 pds. 

Xov. 0, 179!l--Onon. Commissioners-Th. YanW.( irahani-- 50 awarded 

LOT EIGHTY-THREE. 

Sept. 13, 1790--t>tate of X'ew Y'ork John <ieo. Reamer 500--Soldier 

July 8, 1791--Elkanah Watson Isaac Carpenter 500--47 pds. 

June 5, 1797--Jer. A"an Rensselaer — Elkanah Watson 100 

" 10, 1798--Elkanah Watson Asa Smith 

Onon. Commissioners-Elkanah AVatson 100 awarded 

LOT EIcaiTY-FOFR. 

Aug. 17, 1790--State of Xew York Samuel Lewis O00--Soldier 

July 4, 1792--Somuel Lewis John Taylor OOO 

Xov. 1, 1791-..Daniel (unild Johathan Wood ()00-:;(.IO jids. 

LOT EIGHTY-FIA'E. 

July 7, 1790--State of Xew York Daniel Loder r)00--Soldier 

Dec. 10, 1791--Daniei Loder Samuel Palmer 000--40 ihIs. 

LOT EIGLITY-SIX. 

July 8, 1790--State of Xew York JohnBoggs 

Jan. 17, 1784- -John BoKgs Alex. McDotigal 



232 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

Date of Sale. GRANTOR. GRANTEE. Acres. Consd'n 

July 7, 1790— John Quackenboss Henry TenBrook 600 

Mar. 1, 1802--Onon. Commissioners- " " 600 awarded 

LOT EIGHTY-SEVEN. 

July 8, 1790— State of New York Henry Elliott 500--Soldier 

April 2, 1792--H. Elliott's heirs Jasper Cropsey 

" " f Augustus Sackett -- 

\ Jos. B. Clark 500 

Onon. Commissioners- /Heirs of H. EUiott- 

\ Wm. Thompson 

LOT EIGHTY-EIGHT. 

July 8, 1790--State of New York Othniel Preston 600--Soldier 

LOT EIGHTY-NINE. 

July 9, 1790--State of New York John Thayer 600--Soldier 

May 25, 1790— John Thayer Sam'l Bostwick 600---8 pds. 

Oct'r 5, 1793-- " " Richard Rogers 600- -31 pds. 

June 20, 1794— " " James Reed-i 600-100 pds. 

Nov. 5, 1796--Jas. Reed Isaac Reed 

LOT NINETY. 

Julv 9, 1790--State of New York Abijah Ward 600--Soldier 

Feb. 19, 1791-Abijah Ward f H.J.VanRensselaer 

i Joseph Town 600--20 pds. 

.Jan. 6, 1796— Sybrant Bleeker Stephen Raynard 100--- $98.50 

Apr. 8, 1795— H. J. VanRensselaer— Sam'l Forbes --- -_ 

Feb. 20, 1796-Samuel Forbes Thos. White 500 

Nov. 6, 1799--Onon. Commissioners-Stephen Raynard 100 awarded 

" 6,1799-- " " Thos. Van AV. (xraham 50 awarded 

LOT NINETY-ONE. 

July 6, 1790--State of New York John F. Hamtramck-600- -Soldier 

Apr. 14, 1791--John F. Hamtramck--Michael Connolly 600 $100 

Oct. 4, 1790-Thos. Fowler Nicholas Fish 

" 14, 1791- -Michael Connelly Tims. Fowler 

LOT NINETY-TWO. 

July 8, 1790— State of New York Thos. Willson 500-Soldier 

Jan. 3, 1792--Thos. Willson Justus Banks 500--43 pds. 

Mar. 4, 1787--Walter Wilson's heirs- r Andrew White 500 

\ Wm. Preston 

( Wm. Pool 5(KJ $500 

Dec. 7, 1798- -Onon. Commissioners-White, Preston ct Pool500 awarded 
LOT NINETY-THREE. 

July 9, 1790--State of New York Thos. Williams 600- -Soldier 

LOT NINETY-FOUR. 

July 9, 1790--State of New York James Purdey oUO-.Soldier 

Jan. 26, 1784- -James Purdey Ebenezer Fitch 500--15 pds. 

Nov. 16, 1785- - '• " p:iias Newman 500- -.-8 pds. 

Sep. 25, 1791--Timothv Benedict John W. Watkins ---500--45 pds. 

.Tune 28, 1793— John W. Watkins Wm. Sprague 500-100 pds. 

Mar. 25, 1801- -Onon. Commissioners-David Hobby 100 awarded 

" " Peter E. Elmendorf-- 100 awarded 

LOT NINETY-FIVE. 

July 8, 1790--State of New York Jer. VanRensselaer. -600- -Soldier 

J. Van Renssellaer John Juan 600--36 pds. 

LOT NINETY-SIX. 
Reser'd for Gospel, &c. 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 233 

LOT NINETY-SEVEN. 
Date of Sale. GRANTOR. GRANTEE. Acres. Consd'n 

Jan. 29, 1791--State of New York Tewahangaraghkaii- -600- -Soldier 

Dec. 22, 1791— H.TewahamgaraghkanCor. Van Slyck 600--20 pds. 

" 7, 1792--Cornelius VanSlyck- -John Atkinson 600 

LOT NINETY-EIGHT. 

July 7, 1791--State of New York Chris. Codwise 600--Soldier 

Sep. 2, 1790--Chris. Codwise W. J. Vredenburgh--600 

May 17, 1786--Codwise' heirs Abram "Wilson 600 

Feb. 23, 1795— Geo. McCall Abiathar Hull 600 

Nov. 14, 1797-Abiathar Hull Geo.M'Call 600 

" 7, 1799--Onon. Commissioners- f Penelope Hughson_200 awarded 

\ Catharine Remsen-200 awarded 
LOT NINETY-NINE. 

July 7, 1791--State of New York Barnardus Swarthout600--Soldicr 

LOT ONE HUNDRED. 

July S, 1791— State of New York James McCay 600--Soldier 

Oct, 11, 1791 -- James McCay ElishaCamp 600 

Nov. 30, 1783--Elisha Camp Goose VanSchaick-— 600 

Dec. 3,1791- " " Elisha Burdict 600 

Mar. 23, 1796— Zephaniah Piatt 

Nathaniel Piatt Jonas Piatt 600 

Mar. 10, 1794--Ed. Crampton Nathaniel Piatt 600 

Feb. 6, 1795--JOS. Greenleaf Samuel Wilcox 600 

Oct. 18, 1796--Samuel Wilcox Jos. Greenleaf 600 

Nov. 16, 1798--Onon. Commissioners-Nathaniel Piatt 600 awarded 

Aug. 20, 1801--N. Piatt G. Piatt 111 

Nov. 19, 180-4--Cha8. W. Goodrich Joseph Ely 50 ---$1900 

" 22, 1804-Joseph Ely Chas. Elv 55 

Feb. 17, 1803-Theo. Platts Jas. Foot 58 

July 2, 1805- -Reuben Benton ( ^, , , .^, 

Bela Cowles Connected with 

Elijah Hall ^^/''* ^''^ ''% ?^'''^'^ 

Theophelas Tracv -- "^P^'"^^ «^ ^^• 



Wc append a copy of a deed or bounty land warrant j^iven 
by the State, as a specinnen of the original deeds given for 
land. Tlie deed is partly printed and partly written, on 
heavy parchment paper and reads as follows: 

The People of the State of New York by the grace ol 
God, iVee and independent: — To all to whom thefe prefents 
shall come, Greeting: — Know ye, that, in purfuance of an 
act of onr legiflature, pafled the fixtli day of April, one thou- 
fand feven hundred and ninety; entitled " an act to carry 
into efiect the concurrent refolutions and acts of the legifla- 
ture, for granting certain lands, promifed to be given avS 
bounty lands, and for other pur[)ofes therein mentioned." 
Wc Have Given, granted and Confirmed, and bvthefe Pref- 



234 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

ents. Do Give, Grantand Coiiiirm unto Abraham Tompkins, 
All that certain tract or lot of land, tltuate, lying and bcin^; 
in the County of 3Iontgomer}i and in the Township of Mar- 
cellus known and diftinguished on a map of the faid Town- 
ship (filed l)v onr Surveyor-C^eneral in our Secretary's Office, 
agreeable to law), by Lot number Twenty-four, containing 
six hundred acres; Together with all and fingularthe rights, 
hereditaments and appurtetiances to the fame belonging, or 
in any wife appertaining ; excepting and referving to our- 
felvesall gold and filver mines, and also five acres of every 
hundred of faid tract or lot of land for highways; To Have 
and to Hold the above described and granted premifes, unto 
the faid Abraham Tompkins, his heirs and affigns, as a good 
and undefeafible eftate of inheritance for ever. On Condi- 
tion nevertheless that within the term of feven years, to be 
computed from the firft day of January next enfuing the 
date hereof, there fhall be one actual fettlement made on 
the faid tract or lot of land hereby granted, otherwife thefe 
our Letters Patent and the eftate hereby granted fhall eeafe 
determine and become void, hi teftimony whereof we have 
caufed thefe our Letters to be made Patent, and the Great 
Seal of our faid State, to be hereunto aflixed. AVitness our 
trufty and well beloved George Clinton, Efquire, Governor 
of our faid State, Geneialand Commander-in-Chief of all the 
militia and Admiral of the navy of the fame, at our city ot 
Xew York, this eighth day of Jul}', in the year of our Lord 
one thoufand feven hundred and ninety and in the fifteenth 
of our independence. Approved of by the Commissioners 
of the Land-Office, and paffedthe Secretary's office the 20th 
day of November, 1700. 

GEO. CLINTOX. 
Rout. Hartner, D. Sec'y. 

" Attached to the deed by white cord, is the pendant 
Great Seal of the State of Xew York, being a beeswax cast 
of the original seal, about four inches in diameter and three- 
eights of an inch thick. On the obverse is a rising sun, and 
the motto " Excelsior;" and legend the " Great Seal of the 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 235 

State of New York." On the reverse a rock in the ocean; 
legend, 'Frustra.' " 



TOWi^ MEETINGS. 
Copy of original records as found in Town Clerk's Office 
of Pompey, 1794. 

At a meeting of the Freeholders and Inhabitants of the 
town of Pompey, in the county of Onondaga, as lately or- 
dained by a law of New York, passed the 5th of March, 1794. 

That the first town meeting be beld at the House of Eben- 
ezer Butler, Jan., Esq., in said town. April 1st, 1794, was 
chosen by a plurality of voices : 

Moses DeWitt, Supervisor. 

Hezekiali Olcott, Clerk, 

Ozias Burr, Allen Beach, William Haskin, George Cat- 
lin, Ebenezer Butler, Jun., Assessors. 

Thomas Olcott, Jeremiah Gould, John Lamb, Commission- 
ers of Highways. 

-John Lamb, William Haskin, Overseers of the Poor. 

John Wilcox, Samuel Draper, Joseph II. Smith, Constables. 

Voted that the Constables shall be Collectors. 

Joseph Atwell, Daniel Allen, Peter Messenger, Joseph 
Bartholomew, Samuel Sherman, William Pin, John Wil- 
cox, Samuel Jerome, Trueworthy Cook, Overseer's of High- 
irags. 

Timothy Sweet, Elisha Clark, Fence Viewers. 

Elisha Clark, Pound Keeper. 

Various by-laws were made, and among them one that 
there shall be a bounty of three pounds for every wolf killed 
within the bounds of this town. It was also 

Voted, that the ensuing election be held at three different 
places, viz : At Moses DeWitt's on the fourth Tuesday in 
April. 



236 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

AtEbeiiezer Butler Jun's., the Wednesday following. 
At Daniel Allen's the Thursday following. 



At an adjourned meeting of the inhabitants of the town 
of Pompey, legally assembled at the House of Ebenezer 
Butler, Jun., Esq., on the 20th September, 1794. 

William Haskin was chosen Supervisor, in the room of 
Moses DeWitt, deceased. 

Voted, that the sum of twelve pounds be raised for the 
purpose of purchasing books and paper, and other expenses 
of the town. 



SECOND TOWN MEETING. 
At the annual Town Meeting held at the House of Eben- 
ezer Butler, Jun., Esq., in the town of Pompey and county 
©f Onondaga, 7th April, 1795. 

Voted that the mode ofchoosing Supervisor and Clerk be 
to speak and mark against his name, and the remainder of 
Town Officers by nomination. 

The following persons were unanimously chosen to their 
respective offices : — 

Ebenezer Butler, Jun., Supervisor. 

Hezekiah Olcott, Clerk. 

Thomas Gastin, George Catlin, Jeremiah Gould, John 
Wilcox, Josiah Holbrook, Assessors. 

William Haskin, Samuel Messenger, Jun., Hezekiah Ol- 
cott, Commissioners of Highways. 

Josiah Holbrook, William Haskin, Overseers of the Poor. 
Daniel Allen, Ezra Hart, Jabez Hall, Constables. 
Daniel Allen, Ezra Hart, Collectors. 

James Olcott, Enos Peck, Adonijah Cowles, William 

Pease, Bariah Holbrook, Ebenezer Carr, Timothy Colemau, 

Hoar, John Jerome, Salmon Butler, John Vaughaii, 



THB POMPEY RE-UNION. 237 

Daniel Messenger, Timothy Sweet, Asa Barns, David Green 
Isaac Carpenter, Selah Cook, Overseers of Highways. 

William Clark, Ozias Burr, Fence Viewers. 

George Catlin, Pound Keeper. 

Voted that a bounty of five dollars be given for the scalp 
of every full grown wolf killed within the limits of the town. 

Voted that the next annual town meeting be held at this 
place. 



THIRD TOWK MEETING. 
At the annual town meeting of the freeholders and inhabi- 
tants of the town of Porapey, legally assembled at the house 
ot Ebenezer Butler, Jun., Esq., on Tuesday, the 5th day of 
April, 1796. 

The following persons were chosen to their respective of- 
fices : — 

Ebenezer Butler, Jr., Supervisor. 

Hezekiah Olcott, Clerk. 

Jeremiah Gould, Timothy Coleman, William Cook, Hen- 
ry Clark, Timothy Jerome, Assessors. 

Hezekiah Olcott, Samuel Hyatt, Josiah Moore, Commis- 
ers of Highways. 

John Lamb, David Williams, Overseers of the Poor. 

Daniel Allen, Chancy Jerome, Constables. 

Daniel Allen, Collector. 

David Tripp, Samuel Chaffee, Samuel Messenger, Samuel 
Sherwood, Joshua Owen, David Porter, Henry Clark, David 
Williams, Hezekiah Wilcox, David Hibbard, John Bowers, 
Jacobus Depuy, Louden Priest, John Jerome, Joseph Tubbs, 
William Haskin, Joseph Smith, Henry White, Abel Olcott, 
lehabod Lathrop, Overseers of Highways. 

David Green, James Griffes, Fence Viewers, 

Jeremiah Catlin, Pound Keeper. 



238 THE POMPEY RE-UNiON. 

Jereniiali Gould, David AVilliams, Ozias Burr, Thomas 
Olcott, Timothy Jerome, Commissioners of Schools. 

A^oted, that the next annual town meeting be at this place. 



/ 



FOURTH TOWX MEETING. 

At this meeting held April fourth, 1797, John Lamb, was 
chosen Supervisor, Walter Colton, Clerk, Five Assessors 
were chosen, Three Commissioners of Highways, Two Over- 
seers of the Poor, Three Constables, BarrialiHolbrook, Col- 
lector, Twenty-eight Overseers of Highways, Four Fence 
Viewers, George Catlin, Pound Keeper, and Five Commis- 
sioners of Schools. 

It was also " Voted, that it is the wish of the town to have 
the township of Fabius and Tally incorporated into a town 
by the name of Fabius."' 

" Fifty dollars were also voted, to defray the expenses of 
the town.'" 

School Commissioners were voted six shillings per day, 
for services. 

At a meeting held December 2o, 1794, it was again ''voted 
that it is the wish of the town to have the townships of Fa- 
bias and- TuU}' incorporated into a town. by the name ofFa- 
bius, and that the first town meeting behekl at the house of 
Joseph Tubbs. 

Voted, that the Town Clerk be directed to forward tlic 

proceedings of this meeting to the Legislature, at their next 

juceting. 

W. CoLTOx, Clerk. 



At the next town meeting held at the house of Ebenezer 
Butler, Jr., April 3, 1798, the following votes were passed : 

Voted, that the mode of voting for Supervisor and Tow.n 
■Clerk be viva. voce. 

Voted, That John Lamb be Supervisor. 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 239 

Voted, That first vote be reconsidered, iind that tlie Town 
Clerk be cliosen by uplifted hands. 

Voted, That Walter Coltonbe Town Clerk. 

A^oted, That there be live Assessors. 

Voted, That tlic last vote be reconsidered, and there be 
but four Assessors. 

Three Commissioners of Highways were chosen, also 
three Constables, Jacobus DcPuy, Collector, iive Commis- 
sioners of Schools, two Overseers of tlie Poor, twenty-eight 
Overseers of Highways, three Fence Viewers, Jesse Butler, 
Pound Keeper : Deodatus Clark, Timothy Sweet, Levi Je- 
rome, Commissioners of the Public Lots. 

A bounty of iive dollars was voted on wolves killed with- 
in the town. 

This last vote was reconsidered. 

Voted, That the next Town Meeting he at the house of 
Manoah Pratt. 



At a S[)ecial Town Meeting held at the house of ALunoah 
Pratt, on Thursday, the 20th day of Nov., 1798, agreeable to 
previous notice. 

A'otcd, That Levi Jerome be Town Clerk. 

After taking into consideration the Public Lot 07, desig- 
nated for Gospel and Schools. 

A'^oted, That the same be leased. 

A'"oted, That the Commissioners of said land, lease the 
same discretionary. 

A^oted, to petition the Legislature for division of the 
County. 

\'oted, That one tier of lots betaken off the county of On- 
ondaga and annexed to county of Chenango, to-wit : Cicero, 
Alanlius, Pompey, Fabius, Solon and Cincinnatus. 

A'oted, That a conmiittec be chosen to petition the Legis- 
lature for division of said countv. 



240 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

Voted, That Hezekiah Olcott, Levi Jerome and Deodatus 
Clark, compose said committee. 

Levi Jerome, Clerk. 



The next Town Meeting was held April 2, 1799. 

The meeting organized at house of Manoah Pratt, and 
by vote, "adjourned to the barn of said Manoah Pratt." 

Voted, that the Supervisor and Town Clerk be chosen by- 
ballot. 

This last vote was reconsidered and it was "Voted, that 
Supervisor and Town Clerk be put in by viva voce." 

John Lamb, chosen Supervisor, Levi Jerome, Town 
Clerk. The usual number of town officers were elected. 

"Voted, That the next Annual Town Meeting be held at 
the School House, near Ebenezer Butler's and Truman Lewis'. 

Levi Jerome, Clerk. 



At next Town Meeting held at the School House named 
above, on first Tuesday in April, 1800. The Supervisor and 
Clerk were for the first time chosen by^ballot. The remain- 
ing officers were chosen by the uplifted hand. 

John Lamb, chosen Supervisor, Levi Jerome, Clerk, 
Jesse Butler, Collector, Truman Lewis, Pound Keeper. 



At next meeting held April 7, 1801, it was "voted that the 
Supervisor and Clerk be chosen by going round and men- 
tioning to the Town Clerk. Voted that Supervisor and 
Clerk be put in by once going around. 

John Lamb, chosen Supervisor, Levi Jerome, Clerk. 

Voted that the Assessors be voted in by uplifted hands, 
and that there be'three Assessors, one in the western dis- 
trict, one in the middle district and one in the eastern dis- 
trict. 

Forty-three Overseers of the Highways, were chosen. 



THE POMPEY RE-UNIOlir.. 241 

A bounty of five dollars was again voted to be paid for 
killing a full grown wolf, and two dollars and fifty cents for 
killing a young wolf. 

It was "voted, that those who have taken leases on the 
Public Lot designated for Gospel and School be released set- 
ting out one half the number of Apple trees contained in 
said lease. 



At next meeting held in School House near Truman Lewis', 
March 2d, 1802, the Supervisor and Clerk were chosen by 
ballot. 

John Lamb, Supervisor. 

Levi Jerome, Clerk. 

Forty-six Overseers of Highways were chosen. 

"Voted, That James Russel should have a lease of that 
part of the Public Lot that WiUiam Lilly had a year, for 
ten years from the time that he took possession of the same. 



ISText town meeting held March Ist, 1803. 

Ozias Burr, chosen Supervisor. 

Levi Jerome, Clerk. 

Voted that there be a Pound and that it be built near John 
Osbourn's. 

Voted that John Bowers be pound keeper. 
Voted That the Supervisor build a Pound, of the first 
money coming into his hands. 

A bounty of five dollars voted on wolves. 

The total town expenses for year 1802, was $123.85 

For year 1803 2G2.00 

For 1804, expenses was 312.00 



The meeting held 9th of March, 1804, was in School 
House near Hezekiah Hopkins. 

It is the same School House occupied for this purpose from 

16 



242 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

1800 till 1809, in which year, the meeting was called at 
the Academy building. This School house was situated on 
what is now^ the Public Green in the village of Pompey. 



At meeting held April 5, 1808. 

It was "voted that hogs to run at large in the town be 
yoked and ringed, except within half mile of Col. Hopkins', 
and there not allowed to run." 

(Up to this time hoa's have been allowed to run without 
restraint.) 

A^oted that " iS'athaniel Gillett be Pound keeper. 

Voted that no man shall let Canada thistles goto seed on 
liis land, or path-master on the highway, within his distrct, 
on torfeiture of §10.00. 

A^ited, That Xathaniel Baker and Jesse Butler be hog 

constables. 

Chancy Jerome, Clerk. 



At the Town Meeting liolden on the fourth day of April, 
1809, at the Academy, Ozias Burr was chosen Supervisor, 
and Henry Seymour, Clerk. 

Sixty-one Overseers of roads; Nathaniel Baker, Pound 
Master. 

The meeting resolved that they will permit the Pound to 
be moved into the village, near the Academy. 

Besolccd, That all overseers of the roads ia Pompey, shall 
be fence viewers. 

Besolced, That the owner of every dog pay tifty cents. 

Ilcsolced, That hogs or cattle shall not be permitted here- 
after to run at large within half a mile of Col, Hopkins', and 
that hogs shall not be permitted to run at large in other 
parts of the town, unless ringed and yoked. That hogs 
found running at large within the aforementioned limits 
shall subject the owner thereof to the payment of twelve 
and one half cents to the Supervisor, besides impounding 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION, 248 

fee to the Pound Master, who, with all other persons, are 
authorized to impound said hogs. And it shall be the duty 
of every person so impounding, to give public notice of the 
same, on pain of paying two dollars and fifty cents for every 
neglect to the Supervisor, for the use of the town. 

Henry Seymour, Clerk. 



At a meeting held April 3d, 1810, Ozias Burr was chosen 
Supervisor, and Victory Birdseye, Clerk. 

Resolved, That this town remonstrate against the proposed 
division, and that the Supervisor and Town Clerk be ap- 
pointed to remonstrate and do all other things necessary to 
prevent the said division taking effect. 

Resolved, That it be left discretionary with the Commis- 
sioners of the Public Lots to lease them for such time as 
they shall think proper, not exceeding twenty-one years. 

A'ictory Birdseye, Clerk. 



At next meeting, held April 2d, 1811, before the meeting 
proceeded to an}' business, the following notice was read to 
the meeting: 

" jS'otice is hereby given to the Freeholders and Inhabi- 
tants of the town of Pompey, that a petition will be pre- 
sented to the Legislature of the State of i*^ew York, at their 
session in the year 1812, praying a division of the said town 
of Pompey, and the town of Manlius, including in the town 
to be erected, the three south tiers of lots of Manlius, and 
three of the north tier lots of the town of Pompey." 
March 11, 1811. 

Signed, Elisiia Beebee, 

Jacobus DePuy, 
Joseph Wilcox, 
Elnathan Marsh, 
Timothy Coleman. 
At this [meeting all of the town ofhcers were chosen by 
ballot — Ozias Burr, Supervisor; Victory Birdseye, Clerk. 



244 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

Resolved, unanimously, That this meeting disapprove of 
the proposed division of the town, and that a committee of 
three be appointed to remonstrate to the next Legislature 
against the said division, andthatSamuel S. Baldwin, Ozias 
Burr and William Cook be that committee. 

Victory Birdseye, Clerk. 



At the meeting April 7, 1812, Jacob E. DeWitt was 
chosen Supervisor, and Asa Wells, Clerk. 

It was voted that 180.00 be raised for support of the Poor. 



At next meeting April 6, 1813, William Cook was chosen 
Supervisor, and Chas. Baldwin, Clerk. 

It was Resolved to raise $350, for support of the poor. 

Resolved, That the Commissioners of the Public Lot ap- 
ply to the Legislature for permit to sell the lot appropriated 
to the use of the gospel. 

This year, April 29, Ebenezer H. Hale was appointed by 
Justices of the Peace in and for the County of Onondaga, a 
Constable in and for the town of Pompey, in the place of 
Philo Loveland, who refused to serve. 

Chas. Baldwin, Clerk. 



Town meetings were held at the Academy from 1809 to 
1814. 

At meeting held April 5, 1814, Asa Wells was chosen 
Supervisor, and Chas. T. Baldwin, Town Clerk. 

It was resolved to raise the sum of fifteen dollars for sup- 
port ot Common Schools. 

Also, that the proceeds from the Public Lot be devoted to 
the same use. 

Resolved to raise $222, for support of the poor. 

That one dollar and fifty cents per day be paid to Com- 
missioners of Schools. 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 245 

At a meeting lield April 5, 1815, Asa Wells was chosen 
Supervisor, and Chas. Baldwin, Clerk. 

Resolved, That any person having Canada thistles on 
his land, shall cut them twice a year ; once in June and 
once in September, on penalty of $5.00. 

Resolved, That no cattle shall run at largo within half a 
mile of any Tavern. 

Resolved, That partition and all fences be four and one- 
half feet his:h. 



April 2d, 1816, meeting met at the house of Hezekiah 
Hopkins, and adjourned to the house of John Handy. Asa 
Wells was chosen Supervisor and Charles Baldwin, clerk. 

Resolved, That !$300 be raised for support of the Poor 
the ensuing 3'ear ; and also eighty-ti /e dollars for the relief 
of Asa Cook. 



At a meeting April 17th, 1817, it was resolved " to sell 
for keeping, at public auction to the lowest bidder, all paup- 
ers chargeable to the Town. 



April 7th, 1817, it was resolved to apply to the Legisla- 
ture to alter the time of holding Town Meetings to the Sec- 
ond Tuesday of March. 



At a meeting held March 9th, 1819, Asa Wells was 
chosen Supervisor and Samuel Baker, Clerk. 

Voted that there be a committee of five appointed to in- 
vestigate the concerns of the Public Moneys, and how it be 
expended. 



The following is a list of the names of persons elected to 
the office of Supervisors and Towns Clerks, in the Town of 
Pompey, from 1794 to 1875 inckisive, together with number 
of 3'ears they served : 



246 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

Year. Supervisor. Clerk. 

1794 Moses Dewitt and Hezekiah Olcott 

William Haskins. 

1795 Ebenezer Butler, Jr., ___ " " 

1796 " " ___ " " 

1797 John Lamb, Walter Colton. 

1798 " " Walter Colton and 

Levi Jerome. 

1799 " " " " 

1800 '- " " -' 

1801 " " " 

1802 " " " " 

1803 Ozias Burr, " 

1804 " " " " 

1805 " " Asa Wells. 

1806 " " " " 

1807 John Lamb, " 

1808 Ozias Burr, Chancy Jerome. 

1809 " " Henry Seymour. 

1810 " " Victory Birdseye. 

1811 " " " " 

1812 Jacob R. DeWitt, Asa Wells. 

1813 William Cook, Chas. Baldwin. 

1814 Asa Wells, " 

1815 " " " " 

1816 " •' " " 

1817 " " " 

1818 Asaliel Smith, James Chappell. 

1819 Asa Wells, Samuel Baker. 

1820 Elisha Litchfield, " 

1821 Asa Wells, " 

1822 " " " " 

1823 John De LaMatter, Moses S. Marsh. 

1824 Charles Jackson, " " 

1825 " " " " 

1826 Elisha Litchfield, 

1827 Warren Scranton, Nathan'l Andrews. 

1828 John Smith, 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION, 



247 



Year. Supervisor. Clerk. 

1829 John Smith, Xathan'l Andrews. 

1830 Manoah Pratt, Jr., Rial Wright. 

1831- John Smith, David Mallory. 

1832 " " Calvin S. .Ball. 

1833 " •' " 

1834 " " " 

1835 " » " 

1836 " " •' 

1837 " " " 

1838 " " " 

1839 Horace Wheaton, " 

1840 Levi Wells, " 

1841 " " " 

1842 Horace Wheaton, William J. Curtis. 

1843 Levi Wells, 

1844 Daniel Candee, Calvin S. Ball. 

1845 Levi Wells, " 

1846 " " Dan. A¥. Holbrook. 

1847 Samuel Hart, Levi S. Holbrook. 

1848 " '' Calvin S. Ball. 

1849 Manoah Pratt, " " 

1850 " '' '' 

1851 Samuel Hart, E. Henry Hill. 

1852 Manoah Pratt, Calvin S. Ball. 

1853 Levi S. Holbrook, " 

1854 " " " 

1855 " ^' " 

1856 " " " 

1857 " " " 

1858 Levi Wells, - 

1859 *' '' " 

1860 " " '' 

1861 " " " 

1862 " " " 

1863 " " '' 

1864 " '' " 

1865 " " " 



248 

Year. 

1866. 
1867- 

1868. 
1869. 
1870. 
1871. 

1872. 

1873. 

1874. 

1875. 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

Supervisor. Clerk. 

Levi Wells, Calvin S. Ball. 

" " __ __ " " 

" Frank L. Porter. 

u a __ u u 

Levi Wells and " " 

Julius Candee. 

Marshall R. Dyer, Orson G. Dibble. 

Wells M. Butler. 



PoMPEY, August 25tb, 1828. 
We, the undersigned, promise to pay to a building com- 
mittee hereafter to be chosen from anion 2^ ourselves, the 
several sums affixed to our names, for the purpose of erect- 
ing an Episcopal Church, at the four corners, formerly called 
Clapp's corners ; one-fourth to be paid by the first of March 
next, and the remainder in ISTovember, 1829. This church 
when erected shall be under the care ot Wardens and Vestry- 
men and be governed according to the rules and regulations 
of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States. 
The sum subscribed by each individual may be applied on 
payment in the purchase of a pew. 

Names. Suras. Names. Sums. 

John Sprague ^100 Milton Slosson $25 



Isaac V.V. Hibbard___ 100 

Moses Hinsdale 125 

John Clapp 100 

Samuel Hibbard 100 

Carleton Clapp 40 

Marovia Marsh 50 

Samuel Clement 75 

Chester Clapp 75 

Chauncey Hinsdell 126 

Anson Sweet 100 



Horace Sweet 25 

Ansel Judd 22 

Adolphus Sweet 50 

Joel B. Hibbard 20 

Heman Murray 20 

L-a Curtis 20 

James Carr 25 

Lucius Cook, in labor on 

building 10 

Reuben Murray 25 




.yi^ 



^^^^J^^^, 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 



249 



Names. 



Sums. 



Names. 



Sum.s. 



James Lusk ^ 100 Truman B. Stanton. 

Rhoda Gold, Lumber __ 20 

Philemon French 50 

Kneeland Sweet 130 

Anson Sprague 20 

Jacob R.DePuv 10 



_ 10 

Seymour Marsh 50 

Joseph W, Bost\yick 10 

Ephraim Salmons 10 

Jacob Hadle}', 2 chairs 
for vestry room and 
Communion Table 10 



A return of Mount Pleasant School, ISTo. Three, in Pom- 
pey, taught by Levi Jerome from the lourth of December, 
1799, till the fourth of March, A. D., 1800. Number of 
days of Instruction is 66. 



Scholars' Names. Days. 

Moses Hinsdeli 63 

Asahel Hinsdell 50 

David Hinsdeli 53 

Sally Hinsdell 43 

Elizabeth Hinsdell 56 

Jonathan Hinsdell 66 

Polly Hinsdell 38 

Samuel Hibbard 54 

Robert Hibbard 6 

Hachael Hibbard 48 

Jacob Hibbard 51 

Isaac Hil)l):ird 60 

Sally Hihl.,ird 62 

Jonathan Hibbard 22 

Nathaniolllibbard 14 

Desire Messenger 50 

John Kellers 63 

Isaac Jerome 63 

Betse}' Jerome 66 

Libbeus Jerome 65 

Jared Woodwortli . 53 

Lewis Woodwortli 54 

Phebe Jerome 53 

Marv Jerome..,^, 36 



Scholars' Names. Day;-. 

Isaac Woodwortli 42 

Adolphus Sweet 60 

James Sweet 58 

Charles Sweet 58 

Anna Sweet 60 

Anson Sweet _' 23 

Pamelia Sweet 19 

Anson Cole 64 

Polly Cole 26 

John Cole 54 

Samuel Jerome 47 

Electa Jerome 48 

John Jerome 64 

Wilham Jerome 59 

Cyrus Messenger 58 

Cliloc Messenger 61 

Hebecca Messenger 49 

Stephen Messenger 50 

John Closs 64 

Moses Soles 35 

Electa Jerome 61 

Le\i Jerome 65 

Williiim Williams 28 

David Williams 8 



250 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 



Scholars' Names. Days. 

Sophia Jerome 27 

Daniel Williams 59 

Nathaniel Williams 40 

David Williams 38 

Jobe Williams 29 

Rebecca Williams 35 

Lavina Williams 27 

Elsa Williams 28 

Charles Slocum 37 

Abel Brotherton 29 



Scholars', Names. Days. 

John Williams 18 

Solomon Baker 10 

Andrew Guile 65 

Leman Pitcher 27 

Amy Pitcher 50 

James Pitcher 47 

Obadiah Williams 37 

Anson Sprague 20 

Isaac Higgins 13 

Achsah Messenger 12 



Total, Seventy scholars, 2,995 

The Instruction compensation for his services was $16 per 
month. 

The above is a true return. 

Attest, Daniel Messenger, ) m . 

David Hibbard | J- rustees. 

Commissioners of School, Pompey. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 

OF 

|lraegi?|i|ifl||e^iiiiil^ of lsi|i|, 



Dr. Edward Aiken, was born in Windham, Vermont, 
in October, 1796, and graduated at Middlebury College; 
he was preceptor of Porapey Academy soon after its organi- 
zation ; subsequently he practiced medicine in Utica up to 
the year 1829, when from failing health, he removed to 
Tallahasse, Florida, and died in the year 1831. 

He was a gentleman of culture and line sensibilities, and 
wherever he was located attracted a large circle of friends; 
as a teacher he was thorough and efficient; as a physician, 
he was kind anct humane, one whose memory will not soon 
be forgotten by those whese pleasure it was to know him. 



AI^DERSON FAMILY. 

Addy Anderson came to Pompey about the year 1803, and 
settled on fifty acres of land about half a mile west of the 
tillage of Pompey Hill, on the State road ; he died soon 
after, leaving a wife and eight children, to wit : Margaret,. 
John, William, Elizabeth, Samuel, George, Jatnes and 
Mary. John Avas about sixteen years old when his father 
died, and being the oldest son, his mother very naturally 
looked to him for aid in providing for so large a family, 
and in this she was not disappointed ; for be tilled the place 



t252 THE POMPEY RE-UXION. 

-of a father, assuming responsibilities,bearing heavy burdens 
and discharging obligations most faithfully. At the age of 
about twenty-seven, John married Miss Lydia Saftord, and 
settled on the farm purchased by his father ; they were 
blessed with nine children, to wit : Jane, James, Joseph, 
Juliet, Ira, Josiah, Harriet, EliyndMaiy; as a farmer he 
was among the best in the town ; he was a highly respect- 
ed citizen and for many years a very valuable member of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church of Pompey Hill. He died 
of cancer in the face, at the age of fifty-six ; his wife pre- 
ceded him to the spirit world about two and a half years ; 
only two are living of his father's family, Margaret and 
Mary, who reside in Palmyra now. 

The former is well known in Pompey, having spent most 
of her life there; she never was married and is now (1873) 
nearly ninety years of age. Five of John Andersons chil- 
dren are deceased. Four, viz : Jane, James, Juliet and 
Harrie t, died before their father. Eli, who married Miss 
Hellen Baker,of LaFayette, and located on a farm purchas- 
ed of Ely Beard, died at the age of thirty-two years on the 
Ely Beard farm. He was a member of the M. E. Church, 
loved and esteemed by all ; he left a wife and two sons who 
reside in Wisconsin. Joseph, the oldest of the four living 
children, has for many years been a resident of the State of 
Wisconsin, and has been over twenty years in the work of the 
Christian Ministry and a member of the Wisconsin Annual 
Conference. Eight years he has served as Presiding Elder, 
and he is at present pastor of the Second M. E. Church of 
■Oshkosh, Wis. Three years ago he was missionary in the 
Rocky Mountains and built the first Methodist Church in 
Wyoming Territory, at Cheyenne. He has been married 
twice, and has five sons living by his first wite. 

Ira is'settled upnn the old homestead, thinking it doubt- 
less the dearest spot on this green earth. He is still at the 
age of forty-five unmarried, strongly attached to Pompey, 
liis native town, and an upright honest citizen. Josiah soon 
.after i\eachiug his majority married Miss Margaret Baker of 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 253 

La Fa3'ette, IST. Y. Four or five ^-ears later he built a bouse 
on a part of the "oldhomestead" intending to make it a per- 
manent home. His bouse scarcely completed is enveloped 
in flame and burns to the ground on a dark night. A little 
son two years old was burned to death while the other mem- 
bers ot the family barely escaped with their lives. Instead of 
rebuilding he soon sold and moved with bis family to Wiscon- 
sin, only to remain a few months, when he returned and set- 
tled on a farm in LaFayette. This he sold and purchased 
the "Morgan place" the early home of Judge LeRoy Mor- 
gan, which his father Lyman Morgan owned two miles 
north-west of Pompey Hill, where he now resides. He is a 
good farmer, having accumulated a handsome property. 
He has one son living, having lost a son and daughter. 
Mary married a Mr. Hall, a wealthy and respectable farmer 
of Wayne Co., N. Y., where she lived a number of years. 
At present she is living in Michigan, having a family of five 
children. 



AVERY FAMILY. 

Christopher Avery, a weaver, came from Salisbury, Eng- 
land, about 1640, and settled at Gloucester, Mass.; he was a 
Selectman of that town from 1646 to 1654 ; in 1658 he re- 
moved to Boston, and on August 8th, 1665, he purchased 
land in ISTew London, Conn.; died in Groton, 1681. James 
Avery, the only son of the above, w^as born in England in 
1620; be married Joanna Greenslade, in Boston, E'ov. 10th, 
1643; he removed to New London, in 1650 ; took an active 
part in the business aifairs of the new plantation ; he was 
chosen Townsman in 1660, and held the ofiice for twenty 
years; he was captain in the only train band in the town, 
and -was in active service in King Phillip's war ; he was 
twelve times elected Deputy to the General Court, was one 
of the Commissioners of Peace, and an Assistant Judge ; he 
died at Pequannock, in 1696. His four sons were James, 
Thomas, John and Samuel. The latter was born Aug. 14th, 
1666, and married Susanna Palms, Oct. 27th, 1686; his sons 



254 THE I'OMPEY RE-UNION. 

were Samuel, Jonathan, William, Christoplier, Humphrey, 
K'athan and Waitstill. 

Humphrey, horn July 4t]i, 1699, married Jerusha Mor- 
gan, Feb. 5, 1724 ; his sons were Humphrey, William, Sol- 
omon, James, Samuel, Christopher, Waitstill, Isaac and 
Nathan. 

Solomon, born June 17th, 1729, married Hannah Punder- 
son, Feb. 18th, 1751; his sons were Solomon, Miles, Ste- 
phen, Punderson, Henry, Cyrus and Humphrey. 

Punderson Avery was born in Groton, Conn., May 21st, 
1765 ; he consequently was not old enough to enter the war 
of the Revolution, but to show that he was of the right 
stock, we mention that at the massacre ot Fort Griswold, 
on the 6th ot Sept., 1781, nine of his uncles and cousins 
fell and he waded in blood over his shoes to obtain their 
remains from the Fort. He married Lovina Barnes, daugh- 
ter of Phineas Barnes and l^hcbe Bernent, Dec. 15th, 1786, 
at Great Barrington, Mass.; here he resided some time, and 
then removed to the then so called "Royal Grant," in Her- 
kimer County ; here he built and run a grist mill for a few 
years, and it was believed to be located farther west than 
any mill for grmding grain on the Continent. In 1796, he 
removed to Pompey, and settled on a farm a mile south of 
Oran; here he reared his laige family, and died Sept. lOtli, 
1840. 

Mr. Averv was peculiarly fitted by nature for a pioneer : 
he was among the first in any enterprise to improve t^ie 
minds, the morals or condition of his follow men; the 
church, the school and public library, always found in him 
an ardent supporter; his patriotism secured him a place as 
captain in the militia ; and his integrity, as administrator 
for many a widow and orphan ; liis love of justice made him 
often the arbiter in his neighbors' quarrels, and his excellent 
judgment often turned the scale, for or against, many an in- 
cipient undertaking. 

But he was most useful to his fellow men, perhaps, as a 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 255 

mechanic ; his trade properly was a mill-wright, but he often 
was employed on small machinery, and on one occasion, by 
a very wealthy man, to construct a perpetual motion; he 
had been taught to work by square rule, and a barn still 
standing next south of his old residence, is believed to be 
the first in the county framed by "square rule;" hejAvas al- 
most continually employed in building grist mills, saw mills, 
fulling mills, carding machines, tanneries, and later, cider 
mills and threshing machines. About 1820, he constructed 
a cast iron plow, which, for many years, was a general 
favorite in this locality ; his inventive faculties were large, 
and he would probably have allowed them some little scope, 
and at some cost, had not prudence and the demands of a 
family of twelve children, kept him busy in labor that paid 
every day. His children were Hannah P., who became first 
Mrs. Samuel Willard, the mother of W, ^V. Willard, of vSyr- 
acuse ; her second husband was "William Higgins, of Vaii 
Buren; Sally B., who married George Miller, of Tunkhan- 
nock. Pa.; Lucy, who married Belden Resseguie, VanBur- 
en ; William ; Phebe, who married Colonel Reynolds, of 
Cazenovia: Candace, relict of Horace Sweet; Lucetta, who 
married William M. Wood, of Mishawaka, Ind.; Perlena, 
the wife of Abner Duell, Manlius ; Perlina, the relict of 
Euroclyden Gerre, who resides in VanBuren; Cyrus; J^aii- 
cy, the wife of Elam Thomas, Knowlesvillc, Orleans Co.; 
and Samuel. 

William Avery, son of the preceding, was born in Herki- 
mer county, August 16, 1793, married Eunice Hart, daugh- 
ter of Comfort, October 24, 1815. He early manifested a 
disposition to be a mechanic, was continually contriving 
water mills and wind mills to drive other machinery, and 
long before he attained his majority he was employed in all 
parts of the countrj- to repair machinery, and w^as considered 
the most skillful workman known in Central New York. 
His inventive faculties were of a high order, but often from 
a lack of books on mechanical subjects, he lost much valu- 
able .time in experiments that had long before been tried 



256 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

and exploded. His first invention of any importance, was 
a machine for making wire harness for looms in 1824. His 
other inventions were numerous, and hardly a year passed 
without a patent being granted to him. The one by which 
he is best known, was the rotary engine, believed to be still 
the simplest and cheapest in the world, and in a limited 
sphere has proved for about 40 years extremely valuable. 
The first steam saw mill at Centerville, this county, was run 
by one of these engines for many years, and did a vast 
amount of work. 

In 1822 he built a small steamboat which was first launched 
on the mill pond at Baellville; it was afterwards taken to 
Cazenovia lake, and finally to the Erie canal. The Onon- 
daga Gazette of October 1, 1823, says: "A steamboat built 
at Buellville, in Pompey, passed through this village last 
week." The engine from this boat was purchased by the 
late Henry Gifibrd, of Syracuse, who used it to pump salt 
water for many years. 

Mr. Avery moved to Salina and carried on a large foun- 
dry and machine shop, and afterwards removed to Syracuse, 
where he was for a time in company- with Elam Lynds ; he 
built the machinery for the first steamboat on Lake Ontario, 
and was the first white man to navigate the St. Lawrence 
river, from Kingston to the head of the Long Sault Rapids, 
passing two considerable rapids before reaching that point. 
Travel on that route in those days was so inconsiderable 
that it did not pay, and the proprietors withdrew the boat in 
a year or two. In 1837 he removed to Chicago, which he 
then described as a little sickly sunken hole. He soon took 
a contract of the State of Illinois to make the rock cut on 
the summit of the Illinois and Michigan canal ; the price was 
$1.49 per cubic yard, and the estimated cost §240,000 ; this 
was considered the largest contract that had ever been taken 
in this country at that time. While completing this great 
undertaking, by which the waters of Lake Michigan were 
calculated to be diverted to the Mississippi, he was attacked 
by a fatal disease, and died on the 16th of November, 18.40, 



THE POMPEY RE UNION. , 257 

at Athens, and is buried at Rockport, Illinois. Some of his 
feats of walking when the country was new were considered 
very good; he walked on one occasion from Oran to Ithaca 
in a day and back the next. 

/^yruS, the second son of Punderson, was born in Pompey, 
July 28th, 1807; married first, Calista Hibbard, February 
3d, 1828 ; second, Lurinda Jones, February 3d, 1831 ; third, 
Sabra Vosburgh, January 3d, 1847. His early life was spent 
in Porapey and mostly at mechanical work. He removed 
to Tunkhannock, Pa., about 1840, where he has since re- 
sided, except for the last ten or twelve years, he has been in 
EurojDe selling his inventions, which are numerous, and some 
of them quite valuable. One winter he spent in Russia and 
threshed wheat for the Emperor several months ; was on the 
most intimate terms with the Grand Duke, Constantine, and 
finally presented his machine to the Government. He has 
a large family of children — five sons, all mechanics, and five 
daughters. 

Samuel Avery, youngest child of Punderson, was born in 
Pompey, Februar}- 18th, 1812 ; married first, Lucinda Jones, 
February 3d, 1831 ; second, Eliza Flynn. His natural bent 
was mechanics as with the others, but forced by circum- 
stances to be a farmer, he came near being ruined for any- 
thing useful. Dr. Daniel Denison, who had had the credit 
of his misguidance, took him into his office as a student of 
medicine, and in 1844 he graduated at Castleton Medical 
College, Vermont. He removed to Rochester, and com- 
menced the practice of medicine and surgery, his natural 
mechanical ability aiding him materially in the latter. He 
stayed here but a few years and finally removed to Phoenix 
where, Avith the exception of a few months in Syracuse and ' 
a year in Baldwinsville, he has since resided. He gave up 
practice a few years since, and at present is the Secretary of 
the Oswego and Onondaga Insurance Company. 

Grandentia H. and Florello P., sons of Cyrus, born in 
Pompey, reside at Tunkhannock, Pa., machinists. Henry 

17 



258 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

M., only living child of Samuel, resides at South Havon, 
Mich,, a watchmaker and jeweler. 



Rev. ELEAZER STORKS i3/\llR0WS 

Was born January 18th, 1790, in Mannsfield; Conn.; in 
October, 1797, moved with his father's family-, to Middle- 
bui y, Vt.; he prepared for College at the Addison County 
Grammar School, and entered Middlebury College, Octo- 
ber, 1807, from which he graduated, October, 1811 ; he was 
in Castleton in 1811 and 1812; in the Carolinas from 1812 
to 1815, where in 1815 he was ordained a minister of the 
Gospel ; he iinished his Theological studies at the Princeton 
Theological Seminary, 1815-10 ; was tutor in Middlebury 
College a portion of the year 1815 ; preached in Middletown 
]Sr. Y., 1816 and 1817 ; December,1817,was appointed Tutor 
in Hamilton College, Clinton, I^. Y., and in September,1818, 
Professor of Latin, which position he held for about three 
vears ; in April, 1822, he settled at Pompey Hill, and was 
soon after installed Pastor of the Congregational Church of 
Pompey; here he remained till 182 8, and a portion of the 
time in addition to his duties as Pastor of the Church he had 
charge of the Pompey Academy. He edited the Christian 
Journal .-d Utica, IS". Y., from 1828 to 1833, supplying the 
pulpit of theWaterville Presbyterian Church a portion of the 
time; from 1833 to 1842 he was Pastor of the Presbyterian 
Church at Cazenovia, X. Y., when his tailing health com- 
pelled him to resign the position. 

The remainder of his life was s[)ent at his home in Ptica, 
X. Y.. performing such ministerial labors as his health [)or- 
mitted until his death, which occurred July 28th, 1847. 

He was married May 7th, 1822, to Miss Catharine C, 
daughter of Dr. Thomas Fuller, of Cooperstown,N.Y., where 
she now resides enjoying a green old age and "her children 
arise up and call her blessed." Seven children were born 
• to them, five of whom are now living; Mrs. M. F. Cooper, 
of Albany, N". Y., is the only one who can claim Pompey as 



TUE POMPEY RE-UNIOX. 259 

the place of her nativity. Their two sons reside at Janesvillc, 
Wisconsin, and two danghters at Cooperstown, K. Y. 

Such is a sketch of the life of one of Pompey's early min- 
isters^farnished by one of the members of his family. How 
fall of activity in good works from its commencement to its 
early close ! Although only fifty-seven years of age when 
called to bid adieu to earthly friends, and ^enter into that 
rest which remains for the pure in heart, he had filled the 
measure of a long and useful life; he has ceased from his 
labors but his works follow him. Eternity can only reveal 
the extent of the influence he has exerted even as Pastor of 
the Church in Pompeyand Preceptor of the Academy, not 
to speak of the other fields of labor in which he was engag- 
ed. The following letter written by his aged wife in re- 
sponse to a communication from Dr. L. B. Wells, of Utica, 
requesting the foregoing sketch for publication, will be of 
interest to those especially who knewher and who appreciat- 
ed her many virtues. 

COOPERSTOWN, Oct. 16th, 1871. 
Dr. L.-13. Wells. 

Dear Sir : — Your favor requesting a history of my hus- 
band's life to be handed down to posterity with the worthies 
of Pompey, was duly received, and estimated as a mark of 
respect to myself and family ; I sent it to my son, the Doctor, 
who has written the enclosed brief sketch which I hope may 
meet witliyour approbation. 

Respectfully Y^ours, 

CATIIAIilNE F. BARROWS. 



SYLYANUS AND ARTEMUS BISHOP. 

Sylvanus Bishop was one of six brothers who settled in Pom- 
pey in 1793-94; he had previous to this served in the Revo- 
lutionary war; he came from Kinderhook, Columbia Coun- 
ty, IST. Y., in the year first mentioned, and bought land in 
the vicinity of Pompey Hill and began to clear and improve 
it; in the following 3-ear he brought his wife and eldest 



260 THE POMPEY KE-UNION. 

child, making the entire jorney on horse back and carrying 
their baby, then but six months okl, in their arms. After 
about twenty years residence in Pompe}' they removed to 
Oswego; he lived to be over ninety-five years and died inJune 
1860. During his early residence in Pompey, his second 
son, ArtemasBishop,was born December 30th, 1795, whose 
life has been one of marked success and usefulness in the 
profession of his choice; when but a child he manifested a 
love for study which induced his parents to give him the ad- 
vantages offered by the towns people in the "Old Pompey 
Academy," under the tuition of Messrs.Burchard and Leon- 
ard. He entered Union College in 1815, with Orange But- 
ler and others from Pompey, and was a class-mate of Hon. 
William II. Seward; having graduated,he studied Theology 
at Princeton, during which time he made a number of pro- 
fessional visits to the Chappelinthe "01dAcademy"in Pom- 
pey; while at Princeton he decided to devote his life to the 
Missionary work, at the Sandwich Islands. In October,1822, 
he married Miss Elizabeth Edwards, of Boston ; they imme- 
diately joined the second company of Missionaries, then 
about to start from Hartford, Connecticut, in the ship 
Thames; after a voyage of over six months,they reached the 
Island in safety. Among the earlier labors of this faithful 
and eminent Missionary, were his translations of the Bible, 
and a Hymn Book into the Hawaiian language ; he also 
made an excellent translation of Pilgrims Progress, in the 
same language. Later in life he was employed by the Unit- 
ed States Government, in making Geological Surveys of 
the Island ; he is now the Senior Missionary in that field ; he 
has accomplished his half century of labor in that depart- 
ment. A son and daughter have both been sent to the 
United States to receive an education suitable to assist him 
in his arduous labors, both having returned some years ago. 



REV. ARTEMAS BISHOP. 

One after another, the venerable laborers, whose lives of 
faithful service have done so much for the people of the Sand- 



THE POMPEY RE-UNIOX. 261 

wicli Islands, are passing' awaj. The death of Mr.Bishop,one 
of the second company who went as Missionaries to those 
islands, was mentioned in the "Herald" for February. The 
notice of his life is gathered from a sermon preached at 
Honolulu, on the Sabbatli after he died, by Rev. Dr. Da- 
mon : — 

"The Rev. Artemas Bishop was born in Pompey, X. Y., 
December 30th, Vtf^; hence, in a few days, he would have 
been seventy-seven years old. He graduated at Union Col- 
lege in 1819, and at Princeton Theological Seminary, in 
1822. After marriage with Miss Elizabeth Edwards, of 
Boston, he embarked in November, 1822, at New Haven, 
with the first reinforcement of Missionaries destined for these 
islands. Among his associates were the Rev. Messrs. Rich- 
ards and Stewart, Mr. C hamberlain, and several others. At 
his embarkation a large concourse a-ssembled, and then was 
sung, for the first time, the hymn written by William B. 
Tappan, which has been so oft repeated: — 

" ' Wake, Isles of the South'! your redemption is near, 
No longer repose in the borders of gloom.' 

"The company landed at Honolulu on the last Sabbath of 
April, 1823, and Mr. Bishop was stationed at Kailua, there 
to become the associate of the Rev. Asa Thurston. Having 
acquired the language, he became associated with Mr. 
Thurston in the work of translating the Bible. Together, 
they translated the books of Genesis, Numbers and Deuter- 
onomy, and the Epistles of Paul to the Romans and Gala- 
tions; while alone, he translated the 2d book of Samuel and 
the 1st of Chronicles. 

"After remaining about twelve years at Kailua, he re- 
moved to Evva, on ihe island of Oahu, where he labored for 
about twenty years with great usefulness and success. 
"While residing at this station, he translated ' Pilgrim's Pro- 
gress,' and many other books. His accurate knowledge of 
the Hawaiian language always gave him authority in all 
matters involving questions of criticism and translation. 
His fondness for study, reading, and literary pursuits was 



262 THE POMP BY RE-UK ION, 

preserved to the very close of his career. He Avas wont to 
take cheerful views of life, ever looking on the bright side 
of all subjects. There was a golden thread of quiet humor 
interwoven inU) the texture of hisraind. Solomon says, 'A 
man that hath friends, must show himself friendly.' He 
was one of those friendly, genial, and eornpanionable men 
whose presence does not chill, but warms society. 

" It is quite remarkable, that with the rapid tide of travel 
rushing past our islands, he never should have left them af- 
ter his arrival, except on a visit as delegate to the Marquesas 
Mission, in 1858. He never rode upon or saw a railroad, or 
witnessed the operation of the telegraph. Few men, how- 
ever, were better acquainted with the progress of scientifie 
discovery. Emphatically might Goldsmith's description of 
the Vicar, in the 'Deserted Village,' apply to him, while 
officiating, for nearly forty years, as a missionary at Kailua 
and Ewa: — 

"'A man he was to all the country dear. 
And passinir rich with forty pounds a year: 
■ Remote from town he ran his godly race, 
Nor e'er had changed, nor wished to change his phu'C. 
Unskillful he to fawn, or seek for power, 
By doctrines fashioned to the varying hour; 
Far other aims his heart had learn'd to jjrize, 
More hent to raise the wretched than to rise.' 

"It is quite impossible not to admire the life of such a 
veteran Missionary, who left his country tifty years ago, and 
after voyaging around Cape Horn, settled down among the 
Hawaiians to learn their language, assist in reducing it to a 
written form, and then spend a long lifetime in preaching 
and laboring among this people. His thoughts have be- 
come their thoughts. By means of the sermons which he 
preached, books and hymns which ho wrote and translated, 
and above all, by the life which he led, his own life-thoughts 
have become interwoven and intertwined witli the life- 
thoughts and literature of Hawaiians. 

" As a luinister of the gospel, he necessarily made the 
whole Bible his life-study, but when he ceased from the ae- 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 



tivo duties of the ministrv, und enjoyed time lor calm reflec- 
tion and meditation, liis mind dwelt almost exclusively upon 
the prophetic parts of :Scripture, antl especiall}' npon the 
Bi)ok oj Revelation. It atiorded him unspeakable satisfac- 
tion to contemplate the future triumphs of the gospel as un- 
folded in these prophetic portions. Jle had no doubts and 
naisgivings upon the subject, but from his extensive reading 
©f history, and the progress ot the nations in science, art, 
religion and civilization, he conlidently anticipated the un- 
iversal spread of Christianity over the whole earth." 



ELIZUR BRACE, 

BY HIS RON, 1!EV. SAMUEL W. BP..1CE, OF UTICA, N. Y. 

In opening Mr. J. V. H. Clarke's reminiscences of Onon- 
daga Count}', I find that he has set down Pompey as one of 
the original towns formed at the lirst organization of the 
County in 1794, and that it comprised at that time the town- 
ships of Pompey (as it now is), Fabius and Tully, and a part 
of the Onondaga Reservation, including LaFayette; he in- 
forms us farther, that the township obtained great celebrity 
at a very early period, and was principally settled by people 
from N"ew England, many of whom took up their residence 
in it while it w;iS a part of the township of Mexico, Herki- 
mer County. The first settlers, he says, in the present town 
of Pompey, were Ebenezer Butler, from Harwinton, Connec- 
ticut, who located on Lot number 65, in 1792. His brother, 
Jesse Butler, and Jacob Hoar, and Mr. Clarke might have 
added his brother-in-law, jSTatlKin Davis, and others, came 
on in the spring of the same year. My father, Captain 
Elizur Brace, Avas a native of tlie same town of Harwinton. 
in Litchfield County, and a neighbor of those adventurous 
pioneers to the then far west, but did not move to Pompey 
until four years afterwards, that is in 1796. iw tlie spring 
of that year he made a journey, mainl}^ on foot, to the wil- 
derness settlement of his former neighbors, and purchased 
of Ebenezer Butler a portion of land south of the present 
village and covering entirely the summit of the hill. Oe: 



264 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

this he commenced the erection of a log house, after tlie 
fashion of others who had preceded him in the new and far 
oif settlement; this house, however, he did not finish until 
after his removal there with his family, in the latter part of 
October of the same year; hence our accommodations, as I 
well remember, for I was then six and a half years of age, 
were scant and uncomfortable, until our famous log house, 
with two rooms, and a linter, as it was then called, was fit 
fo!" occupancy. We located, by the kindly consent of our 
old neighbors, in the first school house ever built on Pom- 
pey Hill, and this, of course, was a log structure of but one 
room, and at that time, for a few weeks, unoccupied. On 
its split-out, hewed and uneven floor, we spread our beds, 
for our bedsteads had been left in the country where they 
were made; here, also, we cooked and ate our homely meals, 
sat upon our rough benches and hoped for a day of better 
things. Such a day at length arrived, for before the setting 
in of winter, we found ourselves comfortably located in our 
new and highly elevated dwelling, as it was not only like a 
city set upon a hill, butprobably the second best in the set- 
tlement. Our neighbors were munificentlv mindful of us in 
their ofterings of vegetables and other inatcrialsot an edible 
character, as they had them to spare. In the niear.tinie, or 
before leaving our pent up quarters in the school house, my 
father had manufactured a table from cherry planks, >piit 
from a log given him by Esq. Butler, as this gentleman was 
then l)eginiiing to be called. To her great soriow, my 
mother's fine table, the only one we attempted to bring with 
us, got completely shipwrecked on the wa}'. According to 
the custom of olden times, a house warming was expected 
when we were fully settled in our log palace. With its two 
windows, of twelve lights each, which my father hat! been 
careful to In'ing with him; beside these and other things 
which ndght be named, an excellent split and hewed bass- 
wood floor — two doors of like material, with latches and 
latch-strings hanging out, a chimney in the middle, partly 
of stone, and topped out with rift-sticks and plastered, were 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 265 

some of the leading- characteristics of our new dwelling; 
and as to the house-warming, so much desired and talked of 
by our friends and neighbors, that was deferred till mid- 
winter, when the marriage ceremony of my oldest sister was 
to take place. She had early on our arrival, become afK- 
anced to Dr. Walter Colton, the young physician of the 
town, and the first that ever settled in it for practice, though 
Mr. Clarke, in his reminiscences of Ponipey, states the case 
entirely different, informing us that Dr. Samuel Peach was 
the first physician in this to^vn, having come there in 1798. 
and that Dr. Josiah Colton settled two miles east of Pompey 
Hill in 1801. This statement, with sundry other mistakes 
of Mr. Clarke, is too palpable to need refutation. Dr. Tib- 
bals, of whom he speaks in after years, became a resident of 
the place, and a co-practitioner with Dr. Colton, as the 
ride of the latter became verj^ extensive, hardly circum- 
scribed by the limits of the whole large county. Dr. Colton 
early entered into the politics of the day, although such a 
thing as a newspaper was unknown, exce[)t as fugitive copies 
of the Albany papers were obtained from the postotfice at 
Onondaga Hollow. This was the onl}- postotfice in the 
County, and all the region round about, Daniel AVood, 
Esq., was the first postmaster at Pomp-'V Hill in 1811 ; pre- 
vious to that time, the Hollow was the j>rincipal ])Ostotfice 
lor the town, and to it, the write!', in the days ot his early 
youth, otteii went as the post-hoy f -r the neighboi's, some- 
times on horsc-l).iek, hut otteiiei" on toot. At that period 
thei'e was no Syracuse, but a miserable drunken [)lace, 
known as Cossit's Corners, and ap[»roache(l by I'oads of cor- 
duroy eonstriiction, and a-; the Irishmen of Salt Point used 
to say, a plentiful xari'ty of mud holes. In those days, 
shivery was rife in all parts of the Eni[)ire State, nor did it 
entirely eease until 1828, when iteanie to an end by gradual 
ciiiaiieipation. Pompe}- had its slaves ; a number were hehl 
on the Hill by some of the most respectable families, but 
treated not as slaves in the south were said to be, but with 
mueli lenity and kindness. They were, however, quite nu- 



266 THE POMPEY EE-UNION. 

mcrous in the northwestern part of the town, near what is 
now Jainesville,* sundry families there as the DeWitts hikI 
DePiijs, of Dutch extraction, held numbers of them, and 
with their labor entered largely into the cultivation of to- 
bacco; hence it was that Pompey became the lirst town in 
all Central and Western ISTew York that was defiled with the 
raising of this filthy and poisonous plant. I do not remem- 
ber to have seen a one, or even a two-horse wagon on Pom- 
pey Hill earlier than 1804; indeed, horses were scarce and 
riding vehicles drawn bytliem were things of after consider- 
ation. The saddle, Dr. Fraidclin'e seat of health, was in 
vogue tor getting about, wlien the use of fret was re- 
linquished ; my mother, of course, had her down country 
pillion, like sundry others who had immigrated ironi the 
land of steady habits wath their husbands and families. Ox 
teams were the order of the day, both in summer and win- 
ter, when the feet or saddle were not nsed ; hence, carts and 
sleds, and those often of a elumsey character, were the modes 
of swiftest conveyance. The earliest school that I attended 
was taught by Miss Lucy Jerome, afterwards the mother ot 
the lion. George Geddes, a lady of distinguished talents and 
high mental culture. Mr. Merrit Butler, of Pompey, and 
myself, are probably the only persons living who attended 
that school, which was kept two summers in succession, but 
as Mr. Butler is twenty days in advance ot rae on life's rug- 
ged and eventful journey, he is allowed to speak for himself 
and to correct me, if wrong iti this. matter of more than 
seventy years memory. As descendants of Puritans, the 
early inhabitants of Pompey were strict observers of the 
Sabbath, keeping themselves and their children at home, ex- 
cept when they were favored with some kind of public re- 
ligions services on that holy day. If no Missionary or regu- 
lar minister of the gospel Avas among tliem, a prayer meeting- 
was usually held, or a sermon read, and for attendance on 
Sabbath service, not men only, but women, (ladies, indeed,) 
would walk two or three miles or more. They nsed to meet 
in barns, private houses and school houses. The Pev. 



THE POMPEY KE-UNION. 267 

Joseph Gilbert, from Ilarwinton, Conn., ii nephew of wy 
father, a hatter by trade, settled about two miles east from 
the Hill in 1793, and then quietly pursued his early vocation 
of hat making, in connection with farming;, on a limited 
scale ; wool hats and these usually exchanged for sucli com- 
modities as the inhabitants had to spare, were the; main pro- 
duetion of his log shop. Mr. Gilbert was an uneducated 
man, but a man of fine natural talents, and of rare Christiawi 
character; in him the word of Christ dwelt richly in all 
wisdom ; his example and influence in attending funerals, 
vieiting the sick and meeting with the brethren on the Sab- 
bath, were of the most salutary kind, and though dead, he 
yet speaketh. At the time of the Re-Union, June 29th, 
1871, I visited his grave, and the graves of many others 
whom I well recollected from my boyhood, ajid found my- 
s.elf irrcsistably impressed with the solemn fact that the 
fashion of this world passeth away. 



THE BALL FAMILY. 

Stebbins Ball, Jr., who came to Porapey in the winter of 
1799, from Saratoga County, was born in Granville, Conn., 
in 1775; his fiither was Maj. Stebbins Ball, who served 
seven years in the revolutionary army, and was wounded ; 
at the close of the war, he was honorably discharged, with 
the rank of major. Stebbins Ball, Jr., settled on lot num- 
29 Pompey, on the farm now owned and occupied by Ben- 
jamin F. Wheeler; he was a carpenter and joiner, an excel- 
lent mechanic, and gave promise of great usefulness in the 
new country where house-builders w^ere so nmch needed; 
but death early closed his career, in the year 1802, at the 
age of twenty-seven years ; his children surviving him were 
Stephen C, and the twins, Alvin M., and Calvin S., also two 
daughters, Betse}^ and Charlotte ; Betsey married William 
J. Millard, of Watervale, in Pompey, and Ciinrlotto mar- 
ried, Manoah Pratt, Jr., of Pompey. 

Stephen C. Ball, son ot Stebbins Ball, Jr., was born in 



268 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

Charlton, Saratoga County, N. Y., in 1797, and came to 
Pompey with his parents; he served in the war of 1812, and 
was in the battle of Xiagara; he died in Homer, Cortland 
County, K. y., February 22d, 1871, leaving nine children, 
— one son and eight daughters ; he was a tailor by trade. 

Alvin M. Ball, (twin with Calvin S.) was born in Charl- 
ton, N". Y., October 11th, 1798, married Miss Lucretia 
Vickery, of Pompey, and settled on the farm now occupied 
by his son Frederick, two miles north east of Pompey Hill. 
He raised a family often children — one son and nine daugh- 
ters. 

Calvin S. Ball, (twin with Alvin M.) was born in Charl- 
ton, N. Y., October 11th, 1798 ; lived in Pompey about sev- 
enty years ; was a silversmith, and taught school several 
years in Watervale and Pompey Hill ; was Town Clerk of 
Pompey, from about the year 1837 to 1862, excepting one 
year; he also held the oftice of School Commissioner, and 
that of Inspector of Schools for several years. He was twice 
married; lirst to Miss Adaline M. Wood, of Watervale, by 
whom he had four children--three sons and one daughte,who 
arc now living. His second wife was Miss Sarah H. Hun- 
gerford, of Watcrtown, K. Y., by whom he had two daugh- 
ters, twins, one of whom lived to the age of seven years ; 
both Avives, and the t.vins lie hurried in the grave yard at 
Pompey Hill. 

Mr. Bali, moved from Pompey in 1869, and now resides 
at Milo Center, Yalcs County, N. Y., in the enjoym.ent of 
good health, having outlived the expectation of everyone 
who knew him in early manhood. About 1822, when at 
Trenton Falls, he was attacked with pleurisy, which left 
liini with a severe cough. From Trenton Falls, he was 
brought on a litter to his home inPompey,and with him a cof- 
lin and shroud, as the doctor declared it was very doubtful 
whether he could survive the journey ; but he arrived in 
safety, and final! v after fo ur years of suft'ering, he recovered 
from what all supposed to be an incurable consumption, and 
entered upon the active duties of life. The coffin is still in 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 269 

existence, but long ago the shroud was used for other pur- 
poses; his son Calvin S. Ball, Jr., is a dealer in Watches, 
Silver Ware, Jewelry, &c., a prosperous business man, and 
resides in Syracuse. 

JOSEPH BAKER, 

Was born at Chesterfield, Mass., November 21st, 1778; at 
the age of twenty-six years, he moved, following his broth- 
ers, Erastus, Lemuel and Thomas, to Ponipey, west Hill, 
now LaFayette, where he settled on a farm near his broth- 
ers, where he remained till 1810, wh'sn he removed to Otis- 
co, where he died June 8th, 1855, aged 77 years ; he was 
married March 23d, 1802, to Betsey Danforth, by whom he 
had eleven children ; she died April 4th, 1840, aged sixty- 
two years ; he was again married to Mrs. Hannah, widow of 
CaptainTimothy Pomeroy,of Otisco; he is described as a]very 
tall and straight man, with lungs of unusual size, possessing 
a strong loud voice, a robust constitution, never sick, and 
scarcely knew how to sympathize with those who were ; at 
lastwithout a moments warning, while at w^ork fixing some 
brine in the pork barrel, he Avas stricken down, aacl in an 
instant fell upon the floor from the effects of a paralytic 
stroke. He was a farmer, and spent the greater part of his 
early life in clearing the forest ; he in company with Lewis 
Billings, used to take land to clear at $10 per acre ; they 
would go out in the morning and each strive to be the first 
to fall a tree, which was no sooner down, than the sturdy 
pioneer was cutting it into logs ; the first finished, they would 
run to the next, and all day long the strife was continued. 
The logs were drawn into heaps by the neighbors, every 
man owning a team participating in the bee; on these occa- 
sions, song and mirth, strife and victory, made all joyous and 
happy. 

Mr. Baker was in the habit of calling his boys, seven in 
number, in the morning.sayingin his stentorian voice, "come 
boys, shoulder arms," and suiting the action to the word, 
would swing his axe on his shoulder, the boys following in 



270 THE POMPEY KE-UXION. 

single lilc to the woods. He was ii very Lard woiking man, 
and often when working and sweating in the lield,he would 
say to one of his boys, "go to the well and get me a «Jrink 
irom the bottom, and out of the north west corner." 

lie survived two years and a half after one side was para- 
lyzed and his mind gone; then as of old he would call his 
bo3'8, and when the}^ failed to come, he would say, " I have 
brought up a large family of boys, and not one will now 
€ome at my call !" When in health he was fond of music and 
fun, and was a leader in the sports of the day ; his tenacity 
to life was strong, and not till one foot had decayed from the 
body, did he yield to the fell destroyer. 



BENSON. 

Peter Benson came to Pompey about the year 1793, be- 
ing then thirteen years of age ; he came to assist his old- 
er brother in building a barn, for Samuel Sherwood, on lot 
number 84; the compensation for building which paid for 
100 acres of land on the same lot. 

This farm is located about one nule north-west from the 
village of Delphi, and was afterwards owned by Peter Ben- 
rson. The father of Mr. Benson, came a few years later; 
his name was Stutson Benson, was a farmer, and resided 
in Pompey till his death, which occurred in 1820. One in- 
cident of his life is Avorthy of note. At the time of his mar- 
riage, he was unable to read or write ; like Andrew John- 
son, he learned his alphabet of his wife ; he became a well 
read man, particularly in the Bible, and occasionally engag- 
ed in preaching the Gospel ; much of his writing is now in 
possession of A, P. Benson, of Pompey, and is a neat legi- 
ble hand with correct orthography. Peter was the eighth 
child and fifth son, in a family often children ; he was five 
feet and ten inches in height, with broad shoulders and 
firmly knit frame, and weighed in the prime of manhood, 
200 pounds ; he had a firm, quick step, and never would 
.allow his children to move at a slow pace, or as he termed 



THE I'OMPEY RE-UNION. 271 

it, "as though thoj were pulling stakes out of the ground ;" 
he was of a jovial turn, was never morose or austere in 
his family, though his rule with his children, was in- 
stant obedience, and they found it the part of wisdom to 
pay strict attention to this inflexible rule. He was a farmer, 
and acquired a fair competence in liis calling ; he died in 
1864, at the age of eighty -four years ; at the time of his 
death, he was a resident of Fabius. 



EBENEZER BUTLER, Sii. 
Ebenezer Butler, Sr., who accompanied his son, Ebcnezer, 
in making the tirst white settlement at Pompey Hill, was 
born December, 1733. He was grand-son to Jonathan But- 
ler, one of two Irish adventurers who came to Connecticut 
about the year 1710 ; he served with the Connecticut troops 
against the French during the French and Indian War ; he 
was with Washington in the rcvoUition ; and also, in a de- 
tachment called out to suppress "The Shay's Rebellion " in 
1787. Although a farmer by o3cupation, after locating in 
Pompey he took little part in business life ; he was a reli"-- 
ious man, and took a very active part in organizing the 
first church established in Pompey, being chosen one of its 
trustees. This church or religious society was formed June 
16th, 1791, and was called "The First Presbyterian Society 
of Pompey." This Avas not only the first religious associa- 
tion in Pompey, but in Onondaga County, when it emln-aced 
the whole military tract; he was also a member of the 
church subsequently organized by Rev. A\in Robbins, in 
1800, under the name of the "First Congregational Church 
of the Town of Pompey." He lived in Pompey till his 
death, which occurred in 1820, enjoying in an unusual de- 
gree that choicest of Heaven's temporal blessings — good 
health. He never was ill, and died at the age of ninety-six 
years, falling dead with a quanlity of wood in his arms 
which he had just been preparing for the fire. 

Ebenezer Butler. Jr., the first white settler at Pompey 



272 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

Hill, and within the limits of the present township, was horn 
at Harwinton, Conn., in 1761. lie served, as did his father, 
in the Revolutionary War. lie was taken prisoner and 
suffered all the hardships and cruelties imposed hy the 
British upon those unfortunates who were confined on board 
" The Prison Ships " in IsTew York harbor. After his re- 
lease, and at the close of the war, he returned to his native 
town ; married Miss Eebecca D;ivis, and moved to Clinton, 
Oneida County, IST. Y. When located there, he bought a 
soldier's claim to Lot iSTo. 65, of the town of Pompey, and 
in 1791 or 1792, moved with his family, consisting of his 
wife and four daughters, his father, aged about sixty years, 
and a maiden sister, to, and made a settlement upon this 
Lot, at what is now Pompey Hill. He built a log house for 
himself near where is now the ruins of the old stone black- 
smith shop ; another for his father and sister, near the cor- 
ner by the wagon shop. He afterwards bought Lot ISlo. 64, 
and in 1797, put up the first frame building in this vicinity; 
this was a house located on the present site of Hon. Manoah 
Pratt's residence. Here he kept a hotel for a number of 
years; he was largely engaged in buying and selling real 
estate, and for many years also bought cattle in Central 
New York, and drove them to the Philadelphia market. 
Before he came to Pompey, in 1791, he was Collector of the 
District of Whitestown ; he was Supervisor of the town of 
Pompey, Justice of the Peace, a Member of the State Leg- 
islature in 1799 and 1800, Judge of the County Court, and 
one of the first Trustees of Pompey Academy before its in- 
corporation by the Regents ; he was associated with the first 
company formed for the manufacture of salt at Salina. He 
left Pompey in 1802 or 3, and moved to Manlius. His wife 
died in 1808, and her remains lie buried in the cemetery at 
Pompey Hill. He lived in Manlius till 1811, and then 
moved to Central Ohio, where he died in 1829, aged sixty- 
eio-ht years ; he has descendants living near Columbus, Cir- 
cleville and Chillicothe, Ohio, many of whom rank among 
the first families of the State. 



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THE POMPEY RE UNION. 278 

VICTORY BIRDSEYE. 

Victory, eldest child of Ebenezer and Eunice (Tornliiison) 
Birdseje, was born at Cornwall, Conn., December 25th, 
1782. 

Through each of his parents he came of the best stock of 
his native State. His paternal grandfatiier was the Rev. 
Nathan Birdseye, who was born August 19th, 1714, 
graduated at Yale College, 1736; was settled as 
pastor of the Congregational Church, at VVesthaven, Conn., 
in 1742; remained in that pastorate for 16 years; in 1759, 
removed to Oronoque, in the town of Stratford, Conn., 
where he resided till his death on the 28th day of January, 
1818, at the age of 103 years, 5 months and 9 days. A 
single tact will show of what stuff, both ot body and mind, 
this man was made, wdio, born in the first month of the reign 
of George I,lived to within two years of the end of the reio-n 
of George III. After he was more than 100 years old, he 
rocle on horse-back one Sunday, to and from the Church, in 
the village of Stratford, a distance of some five miles ; went 
into the pulpit, and conducted all the exercises of the w^or- 
ship; and, |being too near-sighted to read, repeated from 
raemor}' , the chapter and psalms which were read and sun^r, 
and preached the sermon, much to the pleasure and edifica- 
tion of the audience. 

The maternal grandfather was Beach Tomlinson, of Hunt- 
ington, Conn., a man of uncommon strength, both of body 
and mind, and who died early in the present century, at a 
very great age. 

Among the objects most early sought, obtained at great 
sacrifice, and cherished during his whole life by the sub- 
ject of the present sketch, were the portraits of his grand- 
parents Tomlinson. Many of the residents of the town 
have seen these portraits in his dw^elling; and all the older 
inhabitants will remember the pride and affection with which 
he regarded them. 

The unusual name of "Victory," came into the fiimily by 

18 



274 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

an incident so singular as to be not unworthy ot mention 
here. It was first given to the infant son of Captain Tom- 
linson, under the following circumstances: — The child had 
been born in the early t;dl of 1759, in what was then one of 
the outer and most exposed settlements of the Colony of 
New Haven. It was during the "Seven Years' War," as it 
was called in Europe; but known in America by the name, 
implying so much, of the "French and Indian War." 
Wolfe had gone up the Sl Lawrence with his fleet and 
army, to attack the French in their strong-hold of Quebec. 
On his success seemed to depend the safety ot almost ever}^ 
family in all the Colonies ; especially those in the back- 
wools — on the edges of the wilderness. For the defeat of 
rthc English army would let loose on the Colonies the 
French, with their murderous allies, the Invlians. 

On a Sunday morning, late in the fall of 1759, as this in- 
fant was being carried to the church to be baptised, and to 
receive some name that had been borne by older members of 
his family, and just as pastor and people were gathered at 
ftlie Church, an outcry was heard in the distance. A Couri- 
er from the back settlements on the Hudson came riding up, 
waving a white flag, and shouting "victory, victory, victo- 
ry I" For a moment he drew rein at the steps of the Church, 
to give breath to his horse, while he told to pastor and peo- 
ple the story of the battle of the Heights of Abraham, on 
the loth of September,the death of Wolfe, and the great vic- 
tory of the English. To every one who heard, the tidings 
seemed as of life from the dead. For the power of the 
Trench and Indians was broken; and now the Colonists 
■could lie down and rise up, without fear of rifle or torna- 
liawk, or scalping knife. After a short halt, and repeating 
his glorious news, the messenger departed, bearing the glad 
tidin2;s to the eastern towns; still, as he went, waving his 
flag, and shouting "victory." When he had vanished, 
the congregation gathered in the Church for worship and 
thanksgiving; but before they could proceed, the cliild must 
be christened. As he was brought forward for b:!p:i-!n,the 



THE POMPEY PtE-UNlON, 275 

minister, uii ai^ed man, clipping his hand in the water, and 
phicing it on the iorehead of the child, and apparently for- 
getting the family name which it was intended he should 
bear, said : — "Victory, I baptize thee, in the name of the 
Father, and of the Son, and the Holy Ghost." 

Snch a name, so given, became so dear to the family, that 
when at the successful close of another great war, the first 
child of anew generation was born to them, it was, as a mat- 
ter of course, given to him. 

This second ¥'ictory early displayed great aptness, as well 
as fondness, for learning. He was fitted for college, partly 
at the Grammar School at Cornwall, and partly at Lansino-- 
burgh, N^. Y., where one of his uncles, Tomlinson, then re- 
sided. Entering Williams College, Massachusetts, in Sep- 
tember, 1800, he graduated there September 5, 1804, in the 
same class with Luther Bradish, Robert and Henry D. Sedo-- 
wick, and others, and yjreceding only by a year, Daniel 
Moselej' and Samuel R. Betts, subsequently so prominent in 
the judicial historv ot this State, Returnino- to Lansine-- 
burgh, he pursued the study of the law with his uncle 
Gideon Tomlinson, and Cornelius Allen. There, as at 
school and in college, he was noted for the thoroughness of 
his studies. Mr. Allen said of him many j-ears after, that 
he was the most industrious student he had ever known. 

Mr. Birdseye was admitted an Attorney of the Supreme 
Court of New York, Feb. 12, 1807, and as Counsel, Feb. 
15, 1810. He removed to Pompey in June, 1807. On the 
14th of October, 1813, at Onondaga Hill, he married Electa, 
daughter of Capt. James Beebee,of the Revolutionary Army. 
He earl}' took high rank, and obtained decided success as a 
lawyer, commanding, at the same time, the respect and good 
will of his neighbors and the whole community, and receiv- 
ing, during his whole life, many tokens of public confidence 
both private, political and professional. 

In jSTovember, 1814, ho was elected to the Fourteenth 



276 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

Congress, in which he served from March 4th, 1815, to 
March 4th, 1817. 

He was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 
1821, which formed the second Constitution of New York. 

He was a Member of the Assembly for 1823, and of the 
Senate during 1827 and 1828. He there took a leading part 
in the perfecting and passing of the Revised Statutes of the 
State. 

He was also a member of the Assembly in 1838 and 1840, 
and in Nov., 1840, was elected to the Tvvent^^Seventh Con- 
gress, in which he sat from March, 1841, to March, 1843. 

At the extra session, held in the summer of 1841, perhaps 
the most exciting question presented arose out of the pro- 
posed Bankrupt Law, which was very strongl}- pressed. 
The Whig party was then in power for the first time. Mr. 
Birdseye was a Whig. The Bankrupt Law was proposed 
and passed as a party measure; but he deemed it so im- 
practicable, as to be unworthy of his support; and, after 
striving in vain to perfect it, he voted against it with the 
warning that it would prove unsatisfactory to the country, 
and dangerous to the party. 

The soundness of his judgment was vindicated by the re- 
peal of the law by a large majority of the ^very Congress 
which had enacted it. 

But, while thus made known to the public at large by 
these offices, he was best known at home and among his 
immediate neighbors, by the services which he rendered 
them in their own affairs. 

Soon after his removal to Pompej-, he was appointed a 
Justice of the Peace, and held that office for the term of 
four years. On the 8th of April, 1811, he was appointed a 
Commissioner in Lisolvency, under the Act of April 3, 1811. 
He was appointed Postmaster at Pompey, April 25, 1817, 
and held that office for about twenty-one ^>'ears. On the 13th 
of April, 1818, he was appointed Master in Chancery, serv- 



THE POMPEY RE-UNIOX. 2-77 

ing a term of four years. On the 20th of June, 1818, he 
was appointed District Attorney of Onondaga County, and 
held the office for about fifteen years. 

On the 2(3th of May, 1830, he was appointed Special Coun- 
sel, in place of John C. Spencer, resigned, to conduct the 
prosecution of the persons accused of the abduction and 
murder of AVilliam Morgan. 

Within the town of Pompc}', and in its vicinity, Mr. Bird- 
seye was as well known and as greatly esteemed and beloved 
for his services in connection with the founding and putting 
in opeiation of the Academy at Pompey, as for any other 
ser rices ever rendered by him. Up to the time when he 
became a resident of Pompey in 1807, all the efforts for the 
obtaining of the necessary endowment of the Academy and 
1ilie erection of its building, though vigorously prosecuted, 
had failed of success; but, shortly a.ter his settling in the 
town, he devoted himself to the establishment and endow- 
ment of the Academy. From that time forth, nearly every 
paper connected with its history was prepared by him, and 
many of them are still in existence, in his well known and 
peculiar handwriting. 

Within less than three years after his removal to the 
town, a sufficient endowment had been raised. Within an- 
other year,the building was completed; and directly thereaf- 
ter the Academy was put in operation. 

Until his death, he remained closely connected with it; 
being for many years Secretary, Treasurer or President of 
the Board of Trustees, and at times holding all these offices, 
and performing their duties. Ue prepared the reports ; he 
invested and made available its funds ; he procured for it 
the grant of the lot of land(number 15,in the Township of Ca- 
millus,)vvhich formed a large part of its property ; and during 
the last 30 years of his life, while he was carrying on a very 
large professional business, was weighed down by political 
cares and labors, and was rearing and educating h is large fami- 
ly, he gave the same attention to the interests of the Acade- 



278 THE rOMPEY RE-UNION. 

my, conducting its atiairs, investing and collecting the in- 
come of its property, collecting the tuition bills, and giving 
personal attention to tlie course of instruction ia theScbool, 
with apparently the same zeal and interest and affection 
with which he had assisted in laying the foundation of the 
Institution, in his earliest manhood. 

Besides this active political and professional life, and his 
zealous labors in behalf ot the Academy, he was the com- 
mon adviser and friend of the people of the town, and of 
many in the surrounding towns for long distances. The natu- 
ral kindness of his heart, the fairness and openness of his 
mind, his love of truth and justice, and fair dealing, his 
dislike of strife, and his hatred of litigiousness, made him 
the general arbitrator and peace-maker of the neighborhood; 
he brought and defended no suits which could be avoided 
by any efforts at peace-making, short of most serious sacri- 
fices; and, Avith all his other occupations, he superintended 
the large farm he had acquired, giving much care and no 
little time to its management. He seemed rarely happier 
than when he could turn his back upon the Courts and his 
law office and give himself up to the care of his farm. He 
often said that in the hay field, in the harvest, and the care 
of his sheep, he was again a child on his fathers' farm and 
in his fathers' family, and that such occupations alone had 
made possible his professional labors. 

His life, filled with such labors, drew gradually, and in 
fact imperceptibly, to its close. On Christmas day, 1852, he 
attained the age of three score and ten ; but he was appar- 
ently in the enjoyment of as good health, and nearly as great 
vigor, as he had ever known ; he had, years before, had sev- 
eral serious attacks of disease of the lungs ; but they had all 
passed ofi', leaving few, if any, visible traces behind. For 
months, he continued to perform all his accumstomed la- 
bors in the office, on the farm and about the Courts ; he 
was as full of interest as ever in public affairs, and in all that 
claimed the thoughts of those around him. He conducted 
his cases, and attended the trials in which he was engaged, 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 279' 

with niuliminislied vif^or ; there were, certaiiil}-, occasional 
symptoms and indications of advancing age and approach- 
ing weakness; and late in August, 1853, when some such 
sign had attracted attention and caused remark, he said : 
"It is of little moment ; merely something to remind me 
"that I grow old ; I must not forget, and I am not allowed 
"to forget, that I am a mere tenant at will of this frail 
"tenement of a hody; — that I may be called away to leave 
"it at any time; lest I forget it, my Great Landl'or-1 give& 
"me occasionall}^ a notice to quit."" 

Scarcely any words could better indicate his temper and 
the tone of his mind. Early in the last week of his life, he- 
had kept an appointment, made sometime before, to try a 
case in a neighboring town. He returned in the middle o-f 
the week, apparently well ; Thursday and Friday were spent 
as usual ; a part of each day in his law office, and at his usu- 
al labors, and the afternoon upon his fiirm ; on Frida\' even- 
ing, he received his mail matter, and looked it over as usual, 
conversing of the news of the day ; he retired early, remark- 
ing that he must rise early, in order to visit the county 
town on the morrow. 

After retiring, he was seen to be sleeping with the natural 
easy breathing of a healthy old age ; Avhen sought to be 
aroused at the dawn of tlie next day, he was found cold in 
death ! iN'ot a limb had moved ; not a pang had been felt ; 
nor had even the fingers been clasped ! The machinery of 
life had simply stopped, — the Great Landlord had merely 
repeated His notice, — tlie tenant had obeyed, and gone with- 
out a struggle, whither he was summoi'.ed ! Thus peace- 
fully ended this long, laborious, useful, peaceful life in the 
night of Friday, or on the morning of Saturday, the 16th 
and 17th of September, 1853. 

Mr. Birdseye was a kind husband, a fond father, a good 
neighbor, a faithful friend, a wise counsellor, a public 
spirited citizen, an incorruptible servant of his fellow-citi- 
zens in every office and in every trust. He loved children 



280 THE POMPEY RE-UNIOK^. 

ardently — in fact he loved all liis fellowmen. His aim in 
life was to make all liis fellowmen wiser and better ; his 
aim in his business life was to make all with whom he had 
to do, honest, true and just. He was an unerring judge of 
men and their character ; he knew whom to trust and whom 
not to trust. In fact, it may be doubted whether this pro- 
found knowledge of men, and this sagacity in weighing and 
measuring them, and their motives and actions and charac- 
ter, was not his most remarkable endowment; but he 
possessed also a singular knowledge of affairs and events, 
both of his osvn time and of the past; he continued all his 
life to read largely, and he seemed never to forget anything 
he had read ; every fact in history, science, philosophy and 
politics seemed to be assimilated with, or made a part of his 
own thoughts; he preserved to the last his fondness for the 
classical studies of his youth, and Tidd anelBlackstone never 
drove from his memory Virgil, Horace, Tacitus and 
Homer. 

As a lawyer, he had few superiors in those parts of his 
profession to which he devoted himself. 

His knowledge of men and things, his full mastery of the 
principles of the science of the law, his sagacity, his patience, 
his industry in preparing, and his coolness in the trial and 
argument of causes, secured for him a success in his cases 
that was indeed remarkable. Not that the first success — 
that before ajurj- — was always his; for histastes and habits, 
the very frame of his mind, fitted him rather for the argu- 
ments at the bar of the Court than for captivating juries; 
but lie seemed ever to try his causes for the ultimate tri- 
umphs and success of the final jadgment; hence it was, no 
doubt, that it was truly said of him, that although he was 
semetiines beaten in the Courts below, he was almost uni- 
formly successful in the Appellate Courts. 

Of this Soundness of judgment, this accuracy of knowl- 
edge, this thoroughness of mental action, it will not be easy 
to speak too strongly; he used ever to inculcate them, as he 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 281 

ever inculcated kinclue.ss and honesty and truth. Once, in 
answering an objection that such accuracy could. not possi- 
bly be secured in the great majority of cases, and was, there- 
fore, scarcely to be expected or striven for, he replied that 
that was not so. And, among other things, he said he 
would venture to cite his own experience, and he went on 
and stated that experience. He said that, during the four 
3'ears of his acting as Justice of the Peace, he rendered 
about 4,000 judgments, being, on an average, 1,000 per 
year. That only four of them were ever sought to be re- 
viewed in the higher Courts; that three of the four were 
affirmed in the Common Pleas, (the first Appellate Court,) 
and no further appeal was ever taken ; that, in the fourtli 
case, his judgment was reversed in the Common Pleas ; but 
that that reversal was itself reversed in the Supreme Court, 
and his original judgment was affirmed. So that not one 
of his judgments was ever in fact set aside. He stated also, 
that, during the fifteen years of his service as District At- 
torney of Onondaga County, (then the fourth or fifth Count}' 
of the State in population and wealth and standing, perhaps 
even higher than that in the extent, variety and importance 
of its criminal business,) he had with his own hand drafted, 
he believed, every indictment found in the County, and had 
tried every one that was tried ; and that, during the whole 
period, he did not remember that a single indictment was 
quashed, or 1')nnd defective on a demurrer, or a single pris- 
oner was c\-er ac(putted by reason of any technical failure 
or flaw in an indictment; of course, he had not convicted 
all the criminals indicted and brought to trial during his 
long term of office ; but none of them had escaped, so far as 
he could recollect, by reason of any fault or flaw of his in 
preparing the indictment. When he Avas told that this im- 
plied an accuracy, a care and a patience that were almost 
super-human, and which it was therefore useless to try to 
equal, he replied : Xot at all ; it was simply the result of 
carefully applying ordinary powers to the faithful discharge 
of ordinary duties; that another could do all that ho had 



282 THE POxMPEY RE-UNION. 

done and more; and that probably he owed as macli of his 
success in the discharge of these important duties, to the 
good will and confidence of the public, and of the members 
of his o^yn profession towards himself, as to anything else ; 
that they believed he meant to do his duty fairly and hon- 
estly, and so failed to look for, and of course to see, the 
errors he must no doubt have coniniitted — that it was not 
human to avoid every errov or mistake ; and that tliere was 
the best authority for saying, " Loquando dormitat bomis 
Homerus.' 

The wife of Mr. Birdseye, who was almost eleven years 
younger than himself, survived him more than seven years, 
dying on the 5th day of October, 18C0. 

They reared a family of twelve children, viz : 

Victory James, married Betsey Anne, second daughter of 
Daniel and Anne Marsh, of P(^mpey, now residing in Pom- 
pej. 

Ellen, married Charles A. Wheaton, then of Pompey and 
subsequently of Syracuse. 

Ebenezer, died in :N"ew York City, May 12, 1846. 

EmmaPawson, resides in Syracuse. 

Lucien, graduated at Yale College, August 1(3, 1841, 
married Catharine Mary, daughter of Samuel and Philena 
Baker, of Pompey, resides in Brooklyn, jST. Y. 

Henry Clay, graduated at Yale College, July, 1844 ; died 
at Albany, N. Y., Feb. 18, 1847. 

John Clarence, Lowell, Mass. 

Albert Franklin, married Mary Catharine, daughter of 
Elias and Hannah Post, who died Sept. 4, 1875. Kesides 
in Pompey. 

Charlotte Amelia, married to Harrison V. Miller, M. D., 
of Syracuse. 

Horatio, married to Laura Amelia Chapman, resides in 
Pompey. 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 283 

Julia Catharine, married to Rev. John F. Kendall, D. D., 
then of Baldwinsville, N. Y.,and now of LaPorte, Ind. 

Eunice Electa, resides in Syracuse. 



BARBER FAMILY. 

Elihu Barber was born at Hebron, Conn., March 17th, 
1768,and was the seventh and youngest son of David Barber, 
who at that time was a rich merchant, buying his dry goods 
in Boston, but shipping potash, beef and horses, from I^ew 
London, Conn., to the West Indies in exchange for rum, 
sugar and molasses for his trade; like most younger sons of 
rich men, Elihu was a petted, indulged and I might say, 
polled boy, thinking his father rich enough to supply his 
every want, without any exertion of his own; and this state 
ot things continued till the close of the Revolutionary War ; 
when in consequence of a forced payment of a bill for several 
thousand dollars due a Boston house, for goods bought just 
at the commencement of the war, (the parties going to Eng- 
land during its continuance as they were Tories) he was ir- 
retrievably ruined ; having arnifuls of Continential money 
which at that time however wa? of very triffling value, as we 
read that Thomas Jefferson gave $6,000.00 of it for an over- 
coat. 

A little farm of thirty acres, in the sterile town of Hebron, 
and a tract of two hundred and fifty acres of wild land in the 
extreme northern part of Vermont, was all that was left of 
his father's large fortune, and a life of toil and privation w^as 
before him, Avhere before, was ease and plenty. January 
25th, 1791, he married Hannah Gott, and together they 
toiled on ; her busy hands, ripe judgment and sterling good 
sense, helping to cheer and direct him, until in the early part 
of 1801, they sold out for $700, and started for Pompey, 
having all their worldly goods upon an ox sled drawn by two 
yoke of steers, all their own. 

In the latter part of February they reached Pompey and 
moved into a log-house, on lot 84, and the i)rv^[>erry of Maj. 



284 ' THE POMPEY RE-UNlON. 

Sherwood, where they lived three weeks; buying in the 
meantime one-hundred acres out the north-west corner of 
lot 69, from Stutson Benson, paying therefore his hard 
earned seven hundred dollars, the deed bearing date March 
7th, 1801. They almost immediately moved into their new 
home, and the ringing of his axe as he labored to increase 
his three acre clearing, and the clang of , her loom as she 
wove woolen and linen cloth for the neighbors at the rate 
often yards a day, and doing her own work, soon began to 
tell in the way of bettering their circumstances, the clearing 
steadily enlargening, a fruit orchard of all kinds suitable to 
the climate soon in bearing, with thrift and plenty every- 
where. In a short time a large frame barn was built, and 
in 1810, a thirty by forty house after the pattern so common 
in dear old Connecticut is furnished, and moved into — that 
busy loomlmymg paid for the brick in the chimney, the saw- 
ing ot all the lumber, and the carpenters'wagesfor the labor 
in shingling and clap-boardi)ig the house. 

About this time, they began to enlarge their boundaries, 
adding piece after piece, until they had paid for, and owned, 
over live hundred acres; the request the active house-wife 
making when told from time to time, I can buy a hundred 

acres of Mr. ; "can we pay for it?"always was "get me 

fifteen more cows and you may buy it." 

This butter business was carried on until Elihu Barber 
was as ircll known by the name of "Butter Barber;" for 
during the war of 1812, it was his custom to carry, on certain 
days of every week, three pails of golden rolls of butter to 
market; one in each end of a bag across the saddle, and one 
in front of him, thus riding into Manlius, nine milesdistant, 
and arousing the proprietor of the hotel from his slumber 
with his customary call of "halloo the house," and by nine 
o'clock he was back on his farm. 

At intervals of a few years, now that want was no longer 
probable, they made their pilgrimage to the land of their 
birth, toward which, notwithstanding its roughnesss and 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 285- 

sterility, their hearts turned as faithfully as the needle to the 
pole. When the First Baptist Churcli|of Pompey was or- 
ganized, and a house of worship erected, Elihu Barber took 
an active part in its construction, and gave liberall}- toward 
it, and his wife was one of its most zealous and inHuential 
members; showing her faith by her works, and being a con- 
stant attendant and worshiper until old age prevented — and 
truly it may be said of her, " she did what she could" for 
the glory of God. 

This long walk together was sundered March 27th, 1848. 
by his death at the homestead, four score years of age. In 
1857 she died at the house of their youngest son, David Bar- 
ber, at Manlius^ aged over eighty-eight years. The early 
years of their married life, were years of toil and privation ; 
liut industr}', economy and an indomitable energy that knew 
no such word as failure, brought them while yet they were 
middle aged, to comfort and plent\-. And although the 
monumental marble that marks their resting place records 
no victories won on tented field, still wdien in early life, 
grim want and pinching poverty threatened to assail and 
overcome them, the}-, by steady advances, utterly routed 
them. The forest that encircled their home, at first, echoed 
the howling of wild beasts; but soon was heard the looing 
of cattle and bleating of sheep, whose wool the humming 
spindle and clanging loom, transformed into clothing; and 
the forest itself melted away before the continuous strokes 
of the axe, and in place of it came luxuriant harvests. Plain 
and assuming people were they, in the front rank of pio- 
neers, whose onward tread has carried civilization from 
ocean to ocean ; by whose industry-, the desert now blos- 
soms like the rose; and by whose examples of stern integ- 
rity, unbending principle and Christian faith, towering 
temples and modest churches dot the land, spreading the 
gospel of peace. Truly their victory has proven greater 
than any record wa'itten in blood. 

Four children were born to this couple, viz : Henry Bar- 
ber, born February 13th, 1792, died in 1850; Lydia Barber, 



2'i6 THE rOMPEY RE-UNION. 

born Juno Gth, 1797, died in 1804; Hannah Barber, born 
October 14tli, 1799, died April, 1872; David Barber, born 
September 8, 1802, died January 21, 1867. Henry Barber 
was some nine years of age when his parents moved into 
Pompey, and being a strong, vigorous boy, soon bore a hand 
in the labors of the period. About 1819, he married Sarah 
Shields, and lived about one mile from tlie old homestead 
until his death, whieli occurred in 1850^ leaving tour sons 
and two daughters. Hannah Barber was married about 
1816, to Daniel W. Carver, living for a long period in the 
Valley, two miles north of Delphi, afterward removing to 
Saratoga Springs, where Carver died in 1857, and Mrs. 
Carver died at the home of her son in Illinois in 1872. 
They had three children, two sons and one daughter. Da- 
vid Barber was married to Harriet Hinsdell, Oct. 6th, 1828, 
and settled close to the homestead, where he lived until 
1852, when he moved near Fayetteville, living there until 
his death, which occurred Jan. 21st, 1867. His wife is still 
living, as also are their two sons and one daughter. Being- 
possessed of a strong constitution, great energy and per- 
severance, and a farsightedness and good judgment, that 
would have made him successful in an)/ occupation or pro- 
fession, it is not strange that David Barber succeeded as a 
farmer. Earnest in purpose, when his decision was once 
made, nothing turned him aside from the prosecution of his 
plan, and he was often successful in an undertaking, in 
which a weaker man would have met with a disastrous de- 
feat. He was proud of his occupation, and stood in the 
front rank of agriculturist^^. Firm and unyielding in what 
he thought right, still his social qualities were of a high or- 
der, his integrity unquestioned and his word as good as liis 
bond. 



REUBEN BILLINGS' FAMILY. 

The oldest living couple (residents of the Town) who were 
present at the Re-Union, at Pompey, held June 29th, 1871, 
were probably Reuben and Sally Billings; the former being 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 287 

ill his 83d, and the latter in the 86th year of her age ; and 
while making mention of this fact, it may not be deemed 
amiss to give a brief synoposis of their history, as follows : 
Reuben Billings' was born in the Township of Long- 
meadow, Hampshire (now Hamden)County, Mass., Februa- 
ry 13th, A. D., 1789; he was the second son of a large 
family, (12 in all) and has survived them all, except his 
youngest sister, who lives at Warehouse Point, Conn., and 
is upwards of 73 years of age. On April 30th, 1809, he was 
married to Sally Denio, eldest daughter of Joseph Denio, of 
Delhi, Delaware County, N. Y.; she was born on George 
Washington's birthday, February 22d, 1786; she has also 
outlived all the members of her father's familj', (8 in all) the 
last one having died over 20 years ago. From Delhi thev 
first went to Longmeadow, Mass.; but in Jane, 1812, they 
moved to Pompey, IS". Y., arriving there the 23d of the same 
month, after a tiresome journe}- of thirteen days, beino- 
hauled the whole distance by an ox team. They first mov- 
ed into a house on the "Cape" as it was called in School 
District, Number 8, a few rods south of where Dr. Hezekiah 
Clark formerly lived, and is now owned and occupied by 
John H. Clark, Esq.; he had not been in town three hours 
before Peter Ostrander,thepath masler,warnedhim to work 
on the road. In the winter of 1812 and 1813, he taught the 
School in District Number 8, but a few rods from the place 
where Grace Greenwood was subsequently born. In 
1813 he moved on to a part of lot number 96, one mile south 
where he has ever since resided. In those early days of oui 
town's history, he taught singing school at Pompey Hill and 
various places, and was leader of the Choir at tlie Dedica- 
tion of the Presbyterian Church, in 1818, and when Rev. 
Jabez Chadwick was ordained its pastor. He also vividly 
remembers about the sale of pews and the little incident that 
led little Horatio Seymour to afterward become a noble 
friend of temperance. 

In those early times, a tailoress was deemed of as much 
use to society, perhaps, as a tailor, and Mrs. Billings was 



288 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

considered au expert as a tailoress, dress and cloak maker, 
and also milliner; she used to make all sorts of wearing ap- 
parel; besides she could cut coats, vests and pants, equal to 
the best of tailors. She used to keep apprentices to the 
trade, while she, day after day, was kept busy in cutting 
"mens' clothes;" and people from the adjoining Counties of 
Madison and Cortland were generous patrons of Mrs. 
Billings, or "Aunt Sally" as she was frequently called. 
Many a tailor in those days envied Aunt Sally her skill and 
reputation. Reuben and Sally Billings, had but two chil- 
(]^j'en — a daughter and a son ; Amanda M, Billings, was born 
May 19th, 1811 ; married, May 13th, 1832, to Pierce Ellis, 
wbo died December 9th, 1861; consequently she is now a 
widow and lives with her aged parents. Her brother Homer 
Auo-ustus Billings, was born inPompey,]Sr.Y.,on the old place 
September 4tli, 1826; consequently is a native citizen of old 
Pompey. On Nov. 9th, 1835, he commenced the profes- 
sion of School Teacher, and has taught lifteen terms of four 
and five months each ; he also traveled for several years in 
several Stiites as Agent for the sale of Patent Medicines. 
.On April 14th, 18(32, he married Helen M. Smith, of Dublin, 
Wavne County, Indiana ; he brought his wife to Pompey 
shortly after, and has since resided with his parents and sis- 
ter, on the farm where he was born. 



ELIAS CONKLIK 

Elias Conklin, one of the pioneer settlers of Pompey, came 
from Long Island and settled in Pompey in 1797. He cut 
his way through the forest from Pompey Hill, making the 
first road to ihe place where he built the first saw and grist 
mills in the town, which then covered a large territorj^, if 
not the first in the County. These mills are still known as 
the Conklin Mills, now in LaFayette, and are owned by 
Conklin Brothers. Mr. Conklin married Rachael Ilaight, 
and they reared a family of five children. Betsey, the oldest 
daughter, was born January, 1801 ; Harriet, February, 1803 ; 



THE POMPEY RE UNION. 289 

Daniel K, October, 1807; Sarah A., February, 1810; 
Josiah D., June, 1812, DanieliSr. died September, 18S6 ; 
Mrs. Eiias Conklin died in August, 1840. The subject of 
this sketch died April, 1854. Harriet Conklin married 
Publius Y. Woodford, and died February 14, 1872; Betsey 
Conklin married W^arre-n Butts, and died April 15, 1872 ; 
Sarah Ann Conklin married Samuel P. Hayden, and died 
May 7, 1872. The three sisters all dying within less than 
three months. Mr. Elias Conklin, commonly known as 
"Boss Conklin," a carpenter and joiner by trade, was a 
large and successful farmer, as well as miller. He employed 
a large number of workmen, and built houses and barns and 
did other mechanical work for his neighbors, such as mak- 
ing wagons, sleighs, carts, ploughs, &c. ; at an early day he 
made yery many cpfiins, sometimes for pay, sometimes when 
persons were poor, without pay, and would assist in digo-ino- 
grayes without charge, so great was his sympathy for the 
unfortunate. He was a yery aetiye and prominent man in 
society and church matters, l)eing Trustee, and yery effec- 
tiye and liberal in building the " First Congregational " 
and Baptist churches at Pompcy Hill. He was a yery 
beneyolent man, giving very many bushels of grain to the 
poor, and never turning any away empty from his tables or 
his mills. 



SAMUEL CLEMENT. 

Samuel Clement was born in the town of ]!^orthbrid o-e 
AVorcester County, Mass., January 1st, 1772, At the ao-e 
of three years, his parents emigrated to Croydon, Sullivan 
County, N. IL, a newly opened region, where they were ex- 
posed to, and encountered the trials and hardships of pioneer 
jife. Their situation was rendered more embarrassino- by 
the distracted state of the country, placed as they were upon 
the border of civilization, between the demands of their 
friends ou the one hand and the encroachments of foes on 
the other. The aggressions and treacherous warfare of the 
Tories and Indians were particularly distressing at this 

19 



290 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

period, and the border settlements were often thrown into 
consternation and danger at the sndden and stealthy ap- 
proach of the savage enemy. Many in this little settlement 
were the atrocious murders committed, and the dwellings 
plundered and consumed by the torcli of the incendiary. 
Thus early was Mr. Clement schooled in the hardships of 
frontier life and to face danger and death in its most ap- 
palling form. The lack of educational advantages was se- 
verely felt by the rising generation at this Revolutionary 
period ; but Clement, not daunted by the want of teachers 
or the scarcity of books, availed himself ot all the means in 
his power. While his hands were emploj^ed with the axe 
or hoc, his brain was busy with reflections upon what little 
science he had acquired; at the age of twenty he was con- 
sidered competent to teach a district school, and he com- 
menced teaching at Milton, Saratoga County, N. Y. In tiic 
autumn of 1793, in company with Timothy Sweet, he visited 
Pompey, and concluded to make it his future home. He 
spent the winter of 1793 and 4, teaching in Westmoreland' 
Oneida Count}', and early in March came with his axe on 
his shoulder to his forest home, by the aid of marked trees, 
.(there being no roads laid out) and built himself a log cabin 
and covered it with tlie bark of trees. Early in April, he 
lent his aid to organize the town of Poinpey aiul acted as 
• clerk of the meeting which effected that object. In the fall 
of 1791 he married Ruth Ilibbard, daughter of David Hib- 
bard, who battled with him in life's stern necessities for 
thirty years, when she died leaving eleven children. Mr. 
Clement taught school in the winter of 1794 and 5, on Lot 
_'No. 28, Pompey, about a mile from his residence. This is 
believed to have been the first school taught in the County; 
Major Danforth sent his brother's son, and in the summer 
■ of 1795, his own daughter; some of the scholars who at- 
tended that school are still alive. lie continued to teach in 
that district for some time, till the growing cares of the farm 
and a rising family, compelled him to relinquish tlic occu- 
pation. He died in Pompey, May 29th, 18.3G, in the 85th 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 291 

year of his ago. Five of his children are still living ; Polly, 
Diantha, Lucy, Elihii, Jacob and Charles, are dead. Of 
those living, John Clement resides in Cold Water, Mich. ; 
David, in Darlington, Wisconsin; Hiram, in Pompey, N. 
Y. ; Julia and Charlotte, in DeRuyter, Madison County, 
K Y. 



HENRY CLARKE. 

Henry Clarke, the oldest son of Dr. Hezekiah Clarke, 
was born January 25th, 1789, in Lanesbor.), Berkshire Co., 
Mass., and came with his father to Pompey in 1805. He 
entered the law office of Wood & Birdseye, as a student un- 
der them. While there, in 1812 or '13, he was drafted as 
Sergeunt-Major in the army, with quarters at Oswego, N.Y. 
At the close of his term he was offered a Captaincy in the 
Regular Army; but he declined the flattering otter, and re- 
sumed his studies. When Wood& Birdseye dissolved their 
partnership, he continued and finished his course with Vic- 
tory Birdseye, Esq., and was admitted to the Bar of the 
Supreme Court in February. 1814, then in session at 
Albany. 

In March of that year he formed a co-[)artnership with 
Caleb B. Drake, Esq., in Ithaca, N. Y., where he closed his 
life February 19th, 1817. Few young men in so short a 
time have acquired so flattering a reputation for ability in 
his profession and moral worth, as he. It is believed that 
he was the first student at law in Pompey. 

At the same time that Henry Clarke was in Wood & 
Birdseye's office*, Daniel Gilbert, (son of Rev. Joseph Gil- 
bert, a Congregational Clergyman, who lived and died on 
the farm now owned by Albert PI. Butterfield, on lot JSTo. 
66, Pompe}',) was a student at law in Cazenovia. He estab- 
lished himself in his profession in 1813, in the villao-e of 
Sulina. now First Ward of Svracuse. 



CLARKE FAMILY. 

As all, or nearly all, of the early settlers of the town of 



292 THE rOMPEY RE-UNION. 

Pompcy have passed awa}-, the respoiisibility of rescuing 
their names from forgetfahiess, especially those of them 
who, by their intelligence, thrift, skill or moral worth, have 
been prominent in their generation, devolves upon, and is 
the imperative duty of their descendants who have the 
knowledge of their worth. 

Of the Clarkes, there were seven brothers; six of them 
w^ere professional men, and one of them a farmer ; and five 
of them had special interest in Pompey. 

Dr. Deodatus Clarke was born July 27th, 1762, and died 
January 10th, 1847; he settled on lot 66 in 1795, and owned 
the whole of lot 52. He moved thence to Oswego, in 1807, 
where he died. Two of his sons are now living, Edwin AV,, 
(a lawyer, retired from practice) now lives in Oswego, !N".Y., 
and Ossian, his youngest s:>n, a physician and surgeon, in 
Neosho, Wis. 

Henry Clarke, farmer, settled in Pompey about 1795, and 
moved to Manlius prior to 1805, where he died in 1810. None 
of his children are now living. 

Thaddeus Clarke was born Februarj^ 12th, 1770; he set- 
tled on lot 81 in 1820, and moved thence to Fabius, about 
the year 1830 ; thence to Rochester, and thence to New 
Brighton, Pa., where he died February 15th, 1854. His 
widows now^ lives in Dowagiac, Mich. His children now 
living, are Joseph B. , Attorney, Dowagiac, Mich., Frederick 
J., Merchant, Ottumwa, Iowa, Charles E., Colonel in tlie 
Regular Army, Rnfus L. B., Attorney, Dr. William E., 
Chicago, 111., Lucy C, wife of Rev. Amory D. ■Mayo, 
Sarah L, (Grace Greenwood,) Washington, D. C, and Al- 
bert Henr^'. 

Erastus Clarke was born May 11th, 1768, attorney, an- 
other brother, settled in Utica, N. Y., in its infancy, of whom 
the Hon. Ambrose Spencer said: — "He is the only man I ever 
knew who could split a hair, and then show the difference 
ot the parts." 

He owned the whole of lots 81 and 54, and about 200 acres 



THE POMPEY RE-UNIOX. 298 

of lot 37, Pompey. It is said that lie took a petition to Al- 
bany, for the incorporation of Pompey Academy, and a bill 
prepared for that object, the passage of which through the 
Legislature he procured, with an appropriation of a milita- 
ry lot for the benefit of the Academy. lie died ISTovember 
(3th, 1825. 

Dr. Hezekiali Clarke, the eldest brother of the five, w^as 
born December 19th, 1757, in Lebanon, Conn, and was the 
son of Dr. John Clarke, grandson of Moses Chirke, great- 
grandson of Dr. Daniel Clarke, Jr., and great-great-grand- 
son of Daniel Clarke, who emigrated to America in the 
year 1640, and settled at Hartford, Conn. His maternal 
grandmother, was Elizabeth Edwards, daughter of Timothy 
Edwards, and sister of President Jonathan Edwards. 

He studied Medicine and Surgery under his father; was 
appointed by Governor Trumbull, S.irgeon's Mate in the 
Third Conno3ticut Regiment, in the army of the Revolu- 
tion, commanded by Colonel Samuel Wyllis, General Par- 
sons' Brigade. Subsequently, on the re-organization of the 
arm}^ denominated the First Connecticut Regiment. 

He was in the regular service two years, when, by reason 
of protracted sickness he left the army. 

Afterward, when Fort Griswold, on the river Thames, 
opposite ISTcw London, was captured by the British under 
the traitor Arnold, he repaired to the scene which might 
put savages to the blush, and gave his professional aid. 

When he arrived at New London, he found a large num- 
ber of men who could not pass over, the enemy having de- 
stroyed all the craft on the river, but by searching lie found 
a rickety skiff, utterly unseaworth}-. Here he found him- 
self in a dilemma ; for he could not cross in it alone, and 
they who were standing there refused to accompany Jiim, 
concluding that, if it could not carry one, tioo must inevita- 
bly go down with it. After much effort, he prevailed on 
one man to row the skiff, wiiile himself bailed the water out 
of it, and thus, by their united effort, tlicy arrived safely on 
the oppovsite side. 



294 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

He immediately repaired to the scene of inurder, (for it 
was nothing less,) and assiduously devoted himself to the re- 
lief of the untortunate victims, by dressing their wounds, 
and rendering any other assistance of which they stood in 
need. Thirty years after, three of the sufferers called on 
him in Pompey, to express to him their gratitude for his 
timely and kindly aid. 

Soon after the close of the war, he settled in Pittstield, 
Mass., where he remained one year. He then (June 2d, 
1786) married Miss Lucy Bliss, daughter of Hon, Moses 
Bliss, of Springfield, Mass., and grand-daughter of Timothy 
Edwards, and settled in Lanesborough, Berkshire County, 
Mass. There he pursued his profession about eighteen 
years, then moved with his family to Pompey, where he 
arrived N"ovember 3d, 1805; he lived in the house then 
owned by Daniel Wood, Esq., near the Academy, one year, 
and then settled on the farm on lot 66, where his son John 
H. Clarke now lives. Here he continued to labor in Ins 
profession till infirmities incident to old age terminated his 
labors, and he closed his useful life in Pompey, March 4th, 
1826. 

Dr. Clarke's reputation as a Physician and Surgeon, stood 
high ; but his reputation as a Surgeon did not consist so 
much in the number of limbs amputated, as in their pres- 
ervation ; but when it became necessary to resort to the 
tourniquet and knife, he knew how to use them. He was a 
skillful operator. 

His children were : — 

First — Henry, who studi^'.d law with Hon. Victory 
Birdseye, served as an officer in the war of 1812, and died at 
Ithaca, February 19th, 1817. 

Second — Harriet, married Hon. Daniel Gilbert, and died 
at Cokhvater, Mich., ^N'ovcmber 27th, 1864. 

Third — Charles, died at Dowagiac, Michigan, April 22d, 
1874. 

Fourth— Lucy, died July 29th, 1846. 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 295 

Fifth — John II., now lives on lot 06, Pompey. 

Sixth — William M., now lives in Onondag^i, near Syra- 
cuse. 

Seventh — Moses B., died i*^ovember •20th, 1S65. 
Eighth— Theodore E , died October 26th, 1853. 



PAUL CLAPP. 
Paul Clapp, the father of John, Chester and Carlton, was 
born in the year 1752, at Chesterfield, Mass., and when the 
youngest son, Carlton, was two years old, he immigrated to 
Pompey, in the year 1798. His family then consisted of his 
wife, whose maiden name was Ilepsibah Guilford, and nine 
children, to-wit : — Paul, Jr., Sally, Electa, Iladessa, Patty, 
Philena, John, Chester and Carlton. Electa lives in George 
County, Ohio, and is the only surviving member of the 
family. Paul Clapp was a soldier in the war of the Revo- 
lution, and at the time of his death was a recipient ot a 
pension ; he was a member of an expedition through the 
northern wilderness, which made an aggressive war upon 
the Indians and Tories, and was taken prisoner, carried to 
Canada, and suffered great hardship. After coming to Pom- 
pey, he took up a large tract of land, to which he afterwards 
added largel}' ; being engaged in agricultural pursuits till 
Ids death, which occurred in 1845, upon the land which he 
reclaimed from its wilderness state. Three of his sons set- 
tled oil his land in Pompey — John, Chester and Carlton. 
Paul Clapp, Jr., went to Ohio, being one of the pioneer 
settlers in that State. John Clapp married a daughter of 
David Ilinsdell ; his children now living are Addison Clapp, 
of Pompey, Edmund O. Clapp, of Syracuse, Therissa, wife 
of Chester Baker, of LaFayette, ?J". Y., Mary Clapp, of 
Manlius, I^. Y., Rhoda, wife of Dr. Tollman, of Onondaga 
Valley, and Flora, Mrs. Reed, of Manlius Village. 

Chester married Sally Hinman about the year 1819 ; their 
living children are Morris H. Clapp, of Urbanna, Ohio, and 
Esther, Mrs. Dorwin, of Syracuse. 



'29Q THE POMPEY llE-UNION. 

Carlton Clapp married Harriet Foole, of Manlius ; their 
surviving eliildren are Mary A., Mrs. Hervej Jerome, of 
Lincoln, IiTebraska, Guilford C. Clapp, of Pompey, j^. Y., 
and DeLancy Clapp, of DeAYitt, K. Y. 

Edmund O. Clapp, named above, died in Syracuse since 
"writins: this sketch. 



JOHN" J. DEMING. 

Sacred to the memory of John J. Deming, whose biogra- 
phy it has been impossible to obtain. lie was an accom- 
plished gentleman, a profound scholar and favorite teacher. 
He was one of the earl}' teachers in Pompey, and taught in 
the west room of the old Pompey Academy. 

" Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, 
And waste its sweetness on the desert air." 



DODGE FAMILY. 

Ilezekiah Dodge came to Pompey with his brother, Ezra, 
in 1795, and settled on the same tract of bind on Lot No. 
50. He owned that portion of the land subsequently known 
as the John Wells' farm. Like his brothers, his life was de- 
voted to agriculture. He, too, was one of the early con- 
tributors to building and endowing the Pompey Academy. 
He removed from Pompey in 1842, and went to live with 
his son, Oren, who moved to Lysander, Onondaga County, 
in 1S2G. With him he lived till his death, which occurred 
in 1844, at the age of sixty-five. He was married in Con- 
necticut, to Hannah Roberts, whose father was a lievolu- 
tionary soldier ; by her he liad six children ; in the order of 
their ages, they were Neheminh, Oren, Charles, Julia, 
Joanna and AVilliam. Nehemiah went to Oswego, and died 
at about the age of fifty-tw^o. He was married to Fannie 
Beebe, and left four children who live in Wisconsin, except 
one who resides at Grand Eapids, Michigan. 

Oren, who was seventj'-five years old Jan. 3d, 1875, mar- 
ried Almira Puss, by whom he ha<} three children, Caroline, 



THE POaiPEY RE-UNIOK. 297 

Sarah and Julia, two ofwliom onh', Caroline and Julia, are 
living and both married. They reside in Schroppel, Oswego 
County, IsT. Y. His first wife died, and he married Ahnira 
Lyboult, who died in 1868. He now lives with his third 
wife, who was Mrs. Susan Smith, at Plainville, inLysander. 
Two years ago, at the age of sevent}^ years, she w'ove eleven 
hundred yards of carpeting, manufactured twenty pounds of 
wool and did her ow)i house work, her husband and herself 
constituting the family. 

Julia, the fourth child of Hezekiah, married Dr. George 
Morley, who lived on the farm now owned by Joseph 
Wallis. She died leaving no children. 

Charles, the third son of Hezekiah, married Nancy Wells, 
of Cazenovia. At first they went to Lysander, and thence 
to Michigan, stopping a short time near Rochester, N. Y. 
From St. Joseph, Mich., thej' moved to near Austin, Texas, 
Dec. 3d, 1853, where they now reside. He is a farmer and 
largely engaged in raising cattle. One child, u son, died in 
Michigan, and he has remaining one daughter, Helen, who 
married Judge Turner, of Texas. He, on account of his 
Union sentiments, was obliged to leave his State and come 
north. During the campaign whicli resulted in the second 
election of Lincoln, lie advocated the Republican cause 
upon the stump, in various places through the IN'orth. 

Joanna Dodge married Jerome Sweet, a nephew of Horace 
Svveet, late uf Po i pey. They went to Indifina, near Al- 
bion, where he engaged in farming. They have four 
children, having lost one son in the late war; three daugh- 
ters and one son are living near their parents; they are all 
married. 

William Doilgc mo\'ed to Michigan and engaged in lum- 
bering; he was iuarried to Juliette Duidjam, ®f Little Utica, 
jST. Y. lie met a violent and sudden death while at work in 
the s;iw mill which he built. He left a- widow and five 
children. 

Ezra Dodge came to i'ompey fro!u Litchfield, Conn., 



298 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

about the year 1795, and located on Lot J^o. 50, where 
Thomas Cox uow resides, the farm still being known as 
"The Dodge Farm." He was a farmer, and changed from 
its wilderness condition the land upon which he settled, and 
which his son, David F., subsequently owned. He, in com- 
mon with the pioneer settlers, was subjected to the toils, 
privations and hardships incident to pioneer life; and yet, 
in common with the early settlers of Pompey, he found time 
to devote his attention to the early establishment of schools 
and churches. He was among the subscribers to the en- 
dowment fund of the Pompey Academy. He was old 
enough to remember the lievolutionarv struo-o-le, and be- 
lieved and acted upon the principle that the general diffu- 
sion of knowledge and virtue is essential to the perpetuity 
of the system of government which the patriots of '76 
fought to establish. Before he came to Pompey, he had 
married Polly Foote, and six children were the fruits of that 
union; they were, in the order of their ages, David F., Ira, 
Clarissa, Hezekiah, Seabred and Ezra, Jr. His family were 
of more than ordinary intellectual ability. He and his wife 
lived and died upon the land the}' reclaimed from its wilder- 
ness state. 

David F. Dodge, his eldest son, married Ada D, Roberts 
in 1824, and inherited a part of the farm of his father, 
upon which he lived till 1854, when he purchased the vil- 
lage house and lot, now the Catholic pastoral residence, and 
subsequently the Daniel "Wood residence in the village of 
Pompey Hill, together with the farm attached, where he 
lived till his death, which occurred in 1869. His widow 
still survives, living in the family of her daughter, Mrs. 
Daniel G. Wheaton, upon the farm where her husband died. 
In early life Air. Dodge was, for eighteen winters, a success- 
ful teacher, and he and his wife were Protestants, but about 
the year 1835 the}' renounced the faith of their fathers and 
embraced the Catholic faith, and Mr. Dodge was largely in- 
strumental in establishing the Catholic Church at Pompey 
Hill. He was a man of extensive reading and of strong in- 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 299 

tellectual power, and although devoted to agricultural pur- 
suits during his active life, was always fond of debate, and 
was accustomed to attend and partici]»ate in the discussions 
at the Lyceum of the Academy. Their children were 
Diane, Mary, Hokart and Cynthia. 

Diane died in 1856, and though young, she had acquired 
among a circle of choice friends, an enviable reputation for 
intellectual and moral worth. She gave early promise of 
authorship of a high grade of excellence. Mary became the 
wife of Daniel G. Wheaton, of Ponipey, and resides on the 
farm her father left, surrounded by a large family of 
children. 

Hobart is a lawyer, and resides in Perrysburg, Ohio; he 
married Sarah, a daugliter of Capt. Wilkinson, of Lake 
Erie; they have three chiUlren — two daughters and a son, 

Cynthia has chosen to devote her life to the service of the 
Church; she is Sister of Charity at Mount St. Vincent, on 
the Hudson. 

L^a Dodge, the second son of Ezra Dodge, commenced 
life with little inheritance but his strong arm and strong 
common sense; these he has made the most of, and now at 
a ripe old age resides in LaFayette, which was originally 
a part of Pompey, enjoying the fruits of his labors. His 
sons Harvey, Daniel and Homer, all in affluent circumstanc- 
es and devoted to fiirming, live in his immediate neighbor- 
hood. 

Clarissa is the wife of Nelson Hall, of LaFayette. 

Clarissa, the third child of Ezra, died at an early age un- 
married. 

Hezekiah Dodge was a practicing Physician and Surgeon ; 
he went south, and in Georgia married a Planter's daugh- 
ter: here he lived about twenty years; from Georgia, he 
moved with his famil}^ to Mount Pleasant, 111. They are 
both dead, leaving them surviving a large flxmily of chil- 
dren, who are residents of Illinois. 



500' THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

Scabred Dodge was the intellectual giant of the family, 
and with the assistance of his eldest brother, David F., ao- 
quired a thorough classical education; he graduated at 
Hamilton College, and took high rank as a scholar ; cspe- 
pecially did he excel in mathematics, being, in his da}-, one 
of the best mathematicians in the Qnited States. He chose 
•engineering for a vocation, and went to Ohio in 1826, and, 
at iirst located at Cleveland; he was the chiel engineer of 
the Ohio Canals, and had the supervision of their construc- 
tion. Late in life he married Jane Town, and they located 
at Acron, Ohio. His arduous labors and exposures incident 
to his calling, among the miasmatic swamps and lowlands, 
•engendered disease which took liim prematurel}^ from this 
world, and he died in 1849, leaving his widow bat no chil- 
dren to survive him. He was a man of the highest integ- 
rity, always guarding with exact justice, the interests of the 
State. One circumstance in his life illustrates this truth: — 
Water lime was an article much used in the construction ot 
the canals, and the Ohio lime seemed not to be suited for 
the purpose ; a limited contract was made for a supply from 
Onondaga County, -^. Y., and his brother David F. was 
chosen to negotiate for what should be needed ; making a 
position for liim which promised weath, at what was sup- 
jjosed at the time, a necessary expense to Oliio; the broth- 
ers very soon ascei'tained how to make the Ohio lime answer 
the purpose, and his brother's rich prospects were quick!}- 
•ended, to the great saving of the people of Ohio. It would 
be refreshing for oflicials and contractors in these days to 
imitate an example of integrity thus manifested by these 
two brother-. His widow now resides in the cit}' of Cleve- 
land. 

Ezra Dodge, Jr., married Miss Armena Hendricks, and 
they went to Ohio, but remained but a short time, and tin- 
-ally settled at Mount Pleasant, 111. 

Here lie remained till his death, which occurred about the 
jeixv 1865, leaving a large family, wiio reside in the vicinity 
•of Mount Pleasant. 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. ' 301 

THE DUNHAM FAMILY. 

Deacon Daniel Dunham, emigrated from Windham, Con- 
necticut, in the year 1795, and established the clothiers' 
trade, at the old mills in Manlius ; he also bought a wild lot 
of land, of about one-hundred and thirty acres, three miles 
south-east of Pompey Hill. Captain Samuel Dunham, his 
son, was born in Windham, Conn., in the year 1780. When 
he was seventeen years of age, his father sent him alone to 
work and clear up his new lot of land in Pompey. He 
boarded at the four corners near the old residence of Dr. 
Hezekiah Clarke, about two miles south-east of Pom- 
pey Hill, also near the place where "Grace Greenwood" 
was born. From here he went dail}^ to his work, one mile 
south by marked trees, for two years clearing the land, and 
he put up a log house. Then his two sisters came, and kept 
house for him, for five years longer. He then at the age 
of twenty-five, married a Miss Parmerlee, ot Cazenovia ; he 
continued to reside on this tarm up to his death, at the age 
of sixty-nine years; his wife survived him, and he left a 
large family of children. His son Samuel Mosley Dunham, 
was born on the old farm in Pompey, September 17th, 1805, 
and lived with his father until he was twenty-five years of 
age. He then married and lived for five years on the farm 
which was the birthplace of Grace Greenwood, and next 
west of the tarm then and till his death, owned by Nicholas 
Van Brocklin. When at the age of thirty years, the winter 
of "the deep snow,'' March 10th, he moved to the town of 
Clay, where he still resides. The following are the remain- 
ing children of Captain Samuel Dunham: General Albert 
Tyler Dunhan], who resided many years at Chittenango. 
married the daughter of Colonel Sage, of that place, and 
subsequently removed to Troy, N. Y. He has been engaged 
on Public AVorks for many years, and acquired a handsome 
fortune ; he now lives in New York City with his second 
wife, his first wife having died several years ago; Mary 
Ann Dunham, now Mrs. Clute, resides in S3'racuse : Char- 
lotte Sophia, now Mrs. St. John, no\y resides in Orange, 



302 THE I'OMPEY RK-UNION. 

New Jersey ; Nunc i^- Maria, now Mrs. Kiiight, resides in 
Collins, Eric County, N. Y.; Susan Amelia, now Mrs. Ab- 
bott, now resides in Fort Dodge, Iowa; Charles Parmerle, 
the 3'oungest son lived and died on the old homestead^which 
is now owned by Lewis 11. Robinson, married a daughter 
of Deacon Asa H. Wells, Doxanna, by whom he had two 
children — Luella and Harriet; his widow and daughters now 
reside at Pompcy Hill. 

THE FENNER FAMILY. 

James L. Fenner, the father of Frederick W. Fenner, 
who, it will be remembered very happily responded to a 
sentiment " to any body,"' on the occasion ot the Pom- 
pey re-union, was born in Rhode Island, May 2d, 1777. 
His wife, Betsey Perry, was born in Dighton, Bristol Co., 
Mass., June 18th, 1780. They were married February 22d, 
1801, and in the Spring following moved to the State of 
New York, and temporarily settled in the vicinity of Man- 
liiis village. But after looking for a favorable locality for 
his business (being a Millwright,) he resolved to locate on 
the farm now occupied by Charles Carr, but was unsuccess- 
ful in obtaining a good title. It became the property of 
James Carr, (afterwards Col. Jas. Carr.) Mr. Fenner then 
located on the farm next west. Soon after saw mills were 
built and the pioneer settlers became active in lumbering 
and building dwellings 'and barns. Slabs became plenty, 
and the pioneer flourishing village was named Slab Hollow. 
Mr. Fenner was active in erecting the saw mills, and was 
one of the proprietors who erected the first grist mill in Slal) 
Hollow. It was built on the creek nearly north of his resi- 
dence on the road running west to the Murray neighbor- 
hood. Mr. Fenner permanently settled in Slab Hollow, in 
Pompey, as early as 1804. Their second child, a son, was 
born in Pompey. So early did he come that he had to cut 
his road from Manlius to his residence in Slab Hollow. He 
and his family continued to reside in Pompey until March 
i20th, 1818, when he moved to Lysander, Onondaga Co., 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 308 

where he owned over three hundred acres of wild timbered 
land, nearly all of which he lived to see under a state of cul- 
tivation. During the war of 1812 he was a volunteer in the 
service of his country. His wife died at Lysander, March 
16, 1849, being at the time of her death nearly sixty-nine 
years ot age. Mr. Fcnner survived her till January 16th, 
1851, being then nearly seventy-four years of age. 

Nine children were born unto them, six of whom chiini 
Tompey as the place of their birth : Betsey Fenner was 
born in Manlius, July 25th, 1803; James L. Fenner, Jr., 
was born in Pompey, Sept. 14th, 1805 ; John L. Fenner 
was born in Pompey, Dec. 1st, ]807 ; Darius P. Fenner was 
born in Pompey, Oct. 12th, 1809 ; Frederick W. Fenner 
was born in Pompey, Sept. 9th, 1811 ; Russel B. Fenner 
was born in Pompey, Feb. 9th, 1814; Harriet J. Fenner 
was born in Pompe}-, Sept. 21st, 1816 ; Luther W. Fenner 
was born in Lysander, May 14th, 1820; Ethalannah Fenner 
was born in Lysander, July 21st, 1822. Of these, three 
have died ; Betsey Washburn died in Granby, Oswego 
County, K Y., March 20th, 1847; James L. Fenner, Jr., 
died May 11th, 1856, in Lysander, Onondaga County, N. 
Y., and Ethalannah Blackman died January 20th, 1862, in 
Northtield, Minnesota. 

Frederick W. Fenner, whose son, James R. Fenner, now 
resides in Delphi, in Pompey, after living in Lysander four 
years, came back to Pompey and lived with his aunt, Anna 
Allet), with whom he lived at the time the name of Slab 
Hollow was changed to Watervale. It seems that about the 
year 1823, the citizens of Slab Hollow became dissatisfied 
with the name of their village; one of two things musi be 
done they said, either to move out or change its name. So 
they resolved, in a public meeting called for that purpose, 
to change its name to Watervale, that name being suggested 
by Ansel Judd, who was always consulted at that day upon 
all important matters touching the interests of the villao-e. 
It was also resolved, that Mr. Judd, who Avas somewhat 
^iven to the muses, should originate some lines appropriate 



304 THE POMPEY E,E-UNION. 

to the occasion. Of much that was written, the followiii.!^ 
Tines are given from memory : 

" The timber's all gone, of the Slab.s we've made sale, 
We've no more now Slab Hollow, but vve've now Watervale.'' 



THE FLINT AND RICE FAMILIES. 

Thomas Flint and his brother, Henry, emigrated tron:i 
England in 1635, where tlie^y and their ancestors liad dwelt 
for eight hundred years, as appears by the record. It was 
Matlock in Derbysliire, by the river Darrow, which place 
Thomas sold for forty thousand pounds. Thomas came to 
Boston and settled there, and in 1637 removed to Concord. 
His property was chiefly expended in improvnigthe town of 
Concord. For three years he was a representative of the 
General Court of Massachusetts and Assistant until his 
death, wiiich occurred Oct. 8th, 1653. Henry was a minis- 
ter of the gospel and was ordained at Braintree (now called 
Quincy), March 17th, 1640. He married a sister of Presi- 
dent Hoar, and died April 27th, 1668. The eldest son of 
Henry Flint graduated at Harvard College in 1673, and af- 
terwards becam*.' a Professor in that institution. John 
Flint, son of Thomas, was Lieutenant and Representative in 
1677 and 1679. He married a sister of President Oaks, of 
Harvard College, in 1677, and died in 1687. His children 
were Mary, Thomas, John, Abigail and Edward. 

John Flint, son of the above John, settled in Concord as 
did his father. His children were Ephraini, Abigail, Mary, 
Sarah, Jolm, Hannali and Jane. 

The next list includes the children of the last named John 
Flint, who was born May 12th, 1722, was married to Ilipsi- 
bah Brown, Jan. 12th, 1744. Their children were born and 
died as follows : Hepsibah, born Nov. 1st, 1747, and died 
June 4th, 1790; Edward, born Aug. 14th, 1749, died 
March 25th, 1812; John, born Aug. 11th, 1751, died Oct., 
1822 ; Nathan, born Feb. 11th, 1755, died March 2d, 1824 ; 
Ephraira, born April 17th, 1757, died Aug. 22d, 1769; 



THE POMPEY RE UNION. 305 

Thomas, born May 6th, 1759, died Nov. 6th, 1839; Eleazer, 
born Aug. 9th, 1761, no date of his death ; Cumining, born 
Sept. 11th, 1763, died July 1st, 1831 ; Abisha, born Oct. 
20th, 1766, died April, 1807. 

Samuel Rice married Hepsibah Flint, daughter of John 
Flint and Hepsibah Brown, named in the last foregoing list. 
Their children were Hepsibah Rice, born Aug. 15th, 1766; 
John, born March 18th, 1768 ; Samuel, born Jan. 5th, 1770 ; 
Abigail, born May Gth, 1776 ; Elizabeth, born April 18th, 
1778 ; Ephraim, born May 26th, 1780; Sarah, born March 
4th, 1784; Abisha, born March 20th, 1786 ; Eleazer, born 
May 20th, 1790. 

Shortly after the birth of Eleazer, June 4th, Mrs. Rice 
died, and her husband, Samuel, married ^Irs. Davis about 
1792, and they had two children ; Thomas, who was born 
July 30th, 1794, and Amos, born Feb. 5th, 1797. All of 
Samuel Rice's children were born in Ashby, Middlesex 
County, Mass. 

Thomas Rice, the youngest bul one of Samuel Rice's 
children, married Charlotte Flint, daughter of Edward 
Flint, named hereafter in the next list of Flints, Jan. 25th, 
1814. 

Their children were Elizabeth F., who was born in Ash- 
by, Mass., December 16th, 1814; Thomas was born in Ash- 
by, September 17th, 1817. 

The following four children were born in Pompey : 

Samuel F., born February 3d, 1820 ; Elmira C, born June 
20th, 1822; Amos, born June 27th, 1824; Edward F., born 
July 2d, 1831. 

Thomas Rice and wife, with two children, Elizabeth and 
Thomas, moved from Ashby to Pompe}', and settled on a 
farm half a mile east of Gran, in March, 1818; he lived on 
the farm for several years, and then moved into the village 
of Oran, where he died March 25th, 1843. Elizabeth F. 
Rice, daughter of the above Thomas, married Erastus P. 
Williams, of Pompev, Jnly 31st, 1842, and died without 

20 



306 THE POMPEY RE-UNIO^•. 

children, November 23d, 1844, Thonuis Kice who is ii resi- 
dent of Syracuse, and engaged in the grocery trade, married 
Mary Dorsey, of Geneva, September 2d, 1846; their chil- 
dren were all born in Syracuse, and are all living except the 
eldest, who died September 12tli, 1852. 

The following are their names and date of birth : 

Eva Mary, born August 26th, 1848: Ella Elizabeth, Jan- 
uary 12th, 1854 ; Thomas Dorsoy, March 29th, 1858 ; Paran 
Flint, September 11th, 1759; Ernest, September 11th, 1860; 
Arthur Cleveland, June 7th, 1866 ; Mary Sera, November 
14th, 1872. 

Samuel F. Rice, son of the elder Thomas, died Septem- 
ber 25th, 1840, and was not married. 

Elmira C. died March 29th, 1843, and was never mar- 
ried. 

Amos married Mary Gilbert, October 24th, 1854, in Ly- 
ons, N. Y.; they had one child — Charles Edward, who died, 
.and Amos died, February 19th, 1858. 

Edward F. Rice married Ellen A. Eaton, in Fayetteville, 
August 31st, 1854; the}' reside in Syracuse, and he is en- 
gaged in the dry goods trade. 

The following arc the names and date of birth of their 
children : 

Nellie, born June 30th, 1857; Lizzie Elmira, May 25th, 
1860; Edward Eaton,Junc 11th, 1866, and died August 22d, 
1866; Edward Irving,born July 12th, 1868. Thoy were all 
born in Syracuse. 

Amos Rice, who was born in Ashby, Middlesex County, 
Massachusetts, February 5th, 1797, married Betsey Fairbank, 
■of Ashburnham, Mass., April 3d, 1817. They moved to Pom- 
pey in the fall of 1821, and remained about twenty-two 
jears, when they moved to Tecumseh, Michigan. They 
both died in 1859; the wife January 1st, and the husband 
August 15th; they had iive children — the first two born in 
Mass., and three in Pompey, as follows: Samuel Leonard 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 307 

Rice, January 27tb, 1819: Mary Ann, Aug. 30tb, 1821 ; 
Elizabeth F., Auo^usf 31st, 1829; Artemus F. January 24tb, 
1831 ; Ellen M., May 7th, 1837 ; the youngest died May 8tb, 
1839. 

Samuel Leonard Rice married Charlotte II. Tracy, March 
31st, 1844; and the following are their children : Joseph E., 
born July 29tb, 1845 ; George W., September 8th, 1851; 
Charles H., November 25tb, 1854 ; John T., August 23d, 
1856; Frank T., May 13tb, 1859; Herbert E., November 
13tb, 1863. 

Elizabeth F. Rice married Henry B. Wier, of La Porte, 
Iowa, November 27th, 1850. 

Mary Ann Rice married Charles Strong, of Tecumseh, 
Michigan, March 7th, 1841, and died April 12th, 1845, leav- 
ing one cbild — Mary E., who was born February 23d, 1843, 
and lives in Tecumseh. 

Artemus F. Rice married Eugenia H. Chaplin, of Tecum- 
seh, April 24th, 1860 ; they have one child, Alice ; Frances, 
born January 28th, 1868 ; they reside in Tecumseh, Mich. 

Of the children of Samuel Leonard Rice, who was born 
January 27th, 18 L9, two are married; Josephine E. Rice 
married Lucius W. Parish, October 1st, 1868. 

George W. Rice married Francis L. McGregor, Novem- 
ber 2d, 1871, but in a few months, death severed the tie — 
the bride only living till February 14th, 1872. 

AV"e will now return to the Flint family, and conclude 
this extended record. The Edward Flint who was born as 
before related, August 14th, 1749, married Hepsibah 
Fletcher, February 28tli, 1770 : their children were as fol- 
lows : 

Ephraim,jborn September 14th, 1770, and died September 
9tli, 1774; Rebecca, born February 2d, 1773, and died Sep- 
tember 13th, 1774; Hepsibah, born February 22d, 1775, 
and died June 21st, 1851 ; Rebecca, born June 22d, 1777, 
^"d died April 6th, 1861 ; Samuel, born March 16th, 1780, 



308 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

died March 18th, 1855; Ephraim, born August 5th, 1782, 
died September 21st, 1868 ; Elizabeth; born April 22d,1785; 
Abigail, born December 6th, 1787, died October 12th, 1859; 
Edward, born March 30th, 1790 : Charlotte, ^vife of Thomas 
Rice above named, born December 22d,1793; John, born 
Februar;^ 20th, 1797, and died October 14th, 1844. 

Samuel Flint, named in the last family above, was born 
at Concord, and as before stated March 16th, 1780. He ob- 
tained a liberal education, and was an excellent mathemati- 
cian ; many of the years of his early manhood were spent in 
teaching, and for several years in New York City. In 1810 
he came to Pompej", and engaged in farming, having pur- 
chased and settled on the farm north of the one so long 
owned by Timothy Buttertield. 

On the 27th of January, 1825, at Pompe3',he was married 
to Betsey McKnight, who was born Sept 11th, 1802, at Ox- 
ford, Chenango Co., N. Y. Mr. Flint continued the pur- 
suit of agriculture till his failing health prevented him, and 
he continued to occupy his farm till his death, which occur- 
red March 18, 1855. His wife survived him only a few 
years. They left only one child, Charlotte, who was born 
June 16th, 1826, and was married to John Soule, July 12th, 
1843. Mr. Soule and his wife retain the Flint farm to which 
they have made additions more than doubling the area. 

Their children are as follows : Edward F. Soule, born 
May 24th, 1844, and died January 14th, 1850. 

Samuel Fletcher Soule, born November 2d, 1847. He re- 
sides in Pompey, and is agent for the American Sewing 
Machine. 

Ida Elizabeth Soule was born May 2d, 1851, became a 
teacher, was married to Mr. Clark, June 16th, 1875, and re- 
sides in Fabius. 

John Flint, born May|12th, 1855, and resides with his pa- 
rents in Pompey. 

Delia [A. Soule, born February 23 1858. Is a teacher, 
resides with her parents during vacations. 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 309 

Eudora Josephine Soiile, born June 2Jth, 1862, and lives. 
with her parents. 

Edward Lawrence, born May 8th, 1865, and died June 
14th, 1872. 



JOSEPH W. GOLD AND MRS. RHODA GOLD. 

Mrs. Rhoda Gold was born in Harwinton, Litchfield Co., 
Connecticut, in the year 1777. At the earl}' age of thirteen 
she commenced teaching in her native town, and although 
the opportunities for acquiring knowledge where not what 
they are now, she possessing a studious and enquiring 
mind, dignified and pleasing manners, soon became a suc- 
cessful teacher. At the age of eighteen she was confirmed 
by the venerable Bishop Seabury. At twenty-five she was 
married by the late Bishop Griswold, then her beloved pas- 
tor and predecessor in the Parish school. Soon after her 
marriage to J. W. Gold they removed to the then almost 
wilderness of Pompe}', where the fifteen years of her mar- 
ried life were passed. Mrs. Gold was one of the members 
of Christ's Church in Manlius, from its first oi'ganization, 
and although she lived at a distance of four miles towards 
Pompey Hill, neither storm nor sunshine detained her from 
her accustomed place in the church. Waited on by her 
faithful negro Prince, Sunday morning always found her at 
her post of duty. 

She was always interested in the advancement of educa- 
tion and was one of the original subscribers to the fund for 
founding Hobart Collp«;e. She was a constant reader of the 
Gospel Messenger from its first publication, and when age 
and infirmities prevented lier hearing the Avord preached in 
church she solaced herself with her paper, her prayer-book 
and her Bible. The last years of her life were spent in 
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, having survived her husband nearly 
fifty years. 

Joseph Wakeman Gold left his paternal inheritance in 
Cornwell, Connecticut, to endure the hardships of frontier 



310 THE POMPEY RE-UNIOir. 

life in tlie wilderness of Pompey, in 1796. He was in pros- 
perous circumstances but afflicted with the asthma for thir- 
teen years, which he bore with fortitude, and closed his life 
at about the age of forty with resignation. 



DAVID GREEN". 

The early citizens of Pompey will remember David Green. 
He was born in New Milford, Connecticut, in 1760, and 
with his w^ife, w^hose maiden name was Hannah Pease, im- 
migrated to Pompey in 1796. He took up three hundred 
acres of land around the Corners which still bear his name. 
Physically he was a man of large size, ^veighing three hun- 
dred and twenty pounds. As a citizen he was held in high 
esteem by his neighbors. He was an exemplary christian 
and a member of the Protestant Episcopal church. He has 
long since gone to rest with his fathers. Two daughters 
were the fruits of his marriage, Ellinor and Hannah. The 
latter of whom married Benj. F. Freeman, of Ray, Michi- 
gan. She is dead having left a large family. Ellinor mar- 
ried David Southard, and she also is dead, having left one 
child living, David Green Southard who is a resident of 
Pompey, owning and occupying the same land his grand- 
father, as a pioneer, reclaimed eighty years ago. 



CALEB GREEN. 

Caleb Green, son of Jedediah Green, was born in the 
State of Rhode Island, in 1753. Arriving at the age of man- 
hood he married Miss Elizabeth Moon, and moved to 
Dutchess county, N. Y,, just before the outbreak of the war 
of the Revolution. From information in possession of the 
family, it is probable that he was with one of the expeditions 
which marched to the relief of Fort Schuyler in the valley 
of the Mohawk, in the Summer of 1777, and that he did 
much other service during the continuance of the war. A 
few years after the conclusion of peace he removed to Eas- 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 311 

ton, Washington Co., where he engaged in farming. In 
1806 he came to LaFayette, then a part of the town of Pom- 
pey, and purchased a farm of Joseph Rhoades. Here he 
built the homestead which is now occupied by his grandson, 
Mr. George H. Green. One acre of the farm was donated 
for church and school purposes, and on it now stands the 
Presbyterian church, 

Mr. Green died March 29th, 1817, aged 63 years. His 
wife died Feb. 6, 1828, aged 73 years. 

The following were the names of the children of Caleb 
and Elizabeth Green: — Zilplia, wife of Johnson Babcock, of 
Tully, (born in 1774); James who died in Bridgeport, Ct. ; 
Comfort, wife of Job Andrews, of LaFayette; Russel, late 
of Cardiff, (died Nov. 1871, aged 86 years;) Griffin, of New 
York city; Betsey, wife of John Norton, of Ellery, Cliaut- 
auque Co., N. Y. ; Sally, wife of MinotHoyt, of Harmony, 
Chautauque Co., N.Y. ; Turpin, who succeeded to his father's 
estate in LaFayette, and where he died Dec. 20, 1851 ; and 
Ransom, the only surviving member of the family, now in 
the 76th year of his age, who resides in Cleveland, Ohio. 



HON. DANIEL GILBERT. 

Daniel Gilbert was born in Sheffield, Mass., Sept. 12th, 
1786. He was the youngest son of Rev. Joseph Gilbert, 
who was at that time pastor of the Congregational Church 
in that place. In 1790, he moved with his father's family to 
Waybridge, Vt., and thence, in 1799, to Pompey, Onondaga 
County, N. Y., and settled on Lot No. 66, on the farm lately 
owned by Albert H. Butterfield, where his father died in 
1806, and was buried in Pompey Hill Cemetery. Of his 
childhood we can learn but little ; but very likely he was 
reared in the industrious and christian manner of such fcim- 
ilies in those times, and hence the virtue and stability of his 
riper years. He studied law in Cazenovia, N. Y., and in 
1812 was admitted to practice, at which time he moved to 



312 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

Salina, now the First "Ward of Syracuse. He was soon ap- 
pointed Justice of the Peace, which ofBce he held for twelve 
years in Salina, and afterwards for about the same length of 
time elsewhere. In September, 1817, he was married to 
Miss Harriet Clarke, eldest daughter of the late Dr. Heze- 
kiah Clarke. 

In 1832 he removed to Fayetteville, JST. Y., where he re- 
mained only one year, moving then to Gaines, Orleans Coun- 
ty, JST. Y. While there, he was appointed Associate Judge 
of the Court of Common Pleas for that County, which of- 
iice he held for five years, being at the same time Justice 
of the Peace and Postmaster. 

In 1844, he moved to Coldwater, Mich., whither his sons 
had preceded him. There his infirmities were such as to 
prevent his engaging actively in business; the only ofiice 
which beheld there was that of Circuit Court Commissioner. 

He was a patriot as well as a christian. When traitorous 
hands sought to rend the countr}^ to destroy the glorious 
unity of a nation born in the agony of his fathers, and f»ap- 
tized in the blood sweat of his brothers, old political lines 
and shibboleths were of but little note in the presence of 
the question, ivhether ice shall be, or shall not be, as a nation; 
whether we shall have and maintain a national government 
or not. 

Too old and infirm to bear arms, he gave his first-born, 
(Henry Clarke Gilbert, Colonel of the Nineteenth Michigan 
Regiment, who fell at the battle of Pesaca, gallantly leading 
a successful charge upon a battery); and when that son was 
borne home and laid in the tomb, leaving him sonless, he 
calmly said : " He was dear to me, but our country is worth 
the life of many such." 

He died at the city of Coldwater, Mich., Feb. 15th, 1865. 
Having faithfully " served his generation, by the will of God 
he fell asleep," and was laid by the side of kindred dust, to 
vest until the mornino; of the resurrection. 




N WILLARD HAYDEN 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 313 

HAYDEI^ FAMILY. 

Allen Willard Hayden, a direct lineal descendant of the 
English baronet, William Hayden, (who came to this coun- 
try in 1630 and settled in Dorchester, Mass. , and who served 
in the early Pequot Indian War with some littie distinction 
and notoriety,) w^as born at Harrington, Litchfield County, 
Conn., in June, 1783, and, together with his father, Allen 
Hayden, and his three brothers, Zora, Harvey and Allen, 
Jr., came to Pompey, Onondaga County, N. Y., in Sept., 
1800, and settled on what was since called the Todd Farm, 
about one mile east of Pompey Academy. They cleared 
about three acres of land and sowed it to wheat that fall. 
The spring following they cleared the land and set out the 
orchard west of the house, where it now stands. Four 
years after, Allen Willard married Abigail Castle, sister ot 
Gen. Jabez and Philo B. Castle, and with his father bought 
Lot No. 94, situate about two and one-half miles south of 
the village of Pompey, on which he lived about fifty years. 
In personal appearance he was commanding, standing six 
feet in height and very heavily built, being well calculated to 
bear his part in the hardships of those early times, and many 
stories are told of his great strength and courage. A man 
well liked by his neighbors and of a kind and genial disposi- 
tion. By profession a farmer, he did his work well and 
was successful, having a large and fine tract of land under 
good cultivation. He reared a family of eleven children, 
seven boys and four girls, who all lived to a good age, and 
to see both father and mother close their earthly career. 
When the father died, in June, 1858, in his seventy-fifth 
year, and the mother in January, 1864, in her seventy-ninth 
year, the whole family, in an unbroken circle, gathered 
around their remains as the last few words were said before 
depositing them away from sight forever. Then that united, 
circle of brothers and sisters, all of whom had reached the 
years of maturity, and some of wdiom were verging upon 
old age, and were themselves the heads of families, could 
feel, as perhaps they had never before felt, that in each they 



314 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

had lost a parent indeed — one who had reared them in the 
paths of sobriety, honesty and rectitude. Having but little 
fortune to bestow upon their children, they left them the 
noble example of a moral and religious life — a heritage which 
the subsequent history of their descendants has shown that 
they knew how to appreciate and to profit by. 

The first child of Allen Willard Hayden was born in 1806, 
and lived only a short time. 

Rowena, the next child, was born on July 4th, 1807, and 
was married to Archibald H. Colby, and reared a family of 
five children, Helen, Henry, Caroline, Spencer and Imogene, 
all of whom are now living, Rowena died in Rochester, 
K Y., in March, 1872. 

Samuel P., the third child, was born in July, 1809, and 
was married to Sarah A., the youngest daughter of Elias 
Conklin, a short sketch of whose life maybe found in this 
volume. Samuel P. Hayden was a successful farmer, and 
also a carpenter and joiner, and carried on that business for 
about thirty years. He lived on the farm adjoining his father's 
till 1855; he then sold his farm and bought the Wheaton and 
Jesse Butler farms adjoining, and also the stone store at the 
village of Pompey Hill, built by Beach Beard, and there 
carried on the mercantile business successfully for sixteen 
years. He held prominent positions in society and church, 
and was a very active member of the Board of Trustees of 
the Pompey Academy, being one of the executive committee 
and its President for fifteen years. He was well known, and 
was often appointed to town offices and filled them with sat- 
isfaction to all ; he was also appointed Postmaster in 1860 
and held the position for six years. He reared a family of 
six children : Sabra A., born in 1834, and now married to 
Homer J. Crandall, and living in Syracuse, N". Y. ; Ellen L., 
born in 1837; Elizabeth M., born in 1839; Daniel E., in 
1844; Elma D., in 1847, and George, in 1854, Daniel E. 
served in the Union army during the late rebellion, and is 
now (1876) residing in Syracuse. In 1869, Samuel P. Hay- 
den left Pompey with his family and moved to Syracuse and 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 315 

engaged in the lumber business. The family all remained 
together, an unbroken circle, until the spring of 1872, when 
Mrs. S. P. Hayden, a very amiable, Christian lady, a good 
mother and an ornament to society, died at the age of sixty- 
two years, and was buried in the beautiful cemetery at Oak- 
wood. Samuel P. Hayden died in 1874. 

The fourth child of Allen Willard Hayden was born in 
January, 1811, and died in March of the same year. 

Seymour, the fifth child, was born in 1812. He was a suc- 
cessful farmer, and lived both in Pompey and Cazenovia, 
'N. Y., and afterwards moved to Syracuse and there died, 
the first of an unbroken chain of brothers aud sisters so long 
united and without a missing link. Seymour Ha^'den mar- 
ried Mary Ann Coburn, of Cazenovia, in 1887. They had 
two children — Loren C, and Sarah A. 

Willard, the sixth child of Allen Willard Hayden, was 
born in 1813, and married Almira Hanchett, of Pompey; he 
was an active and hard-working farmer, and lived on the old 
homestead for a long time. In 1870, he with his family 
moved to Iowa, where he is now living and engaged in car- 
rying on a large farm. His oldest son, Wilson, died when 
about two years old ; Cora J. is married to L. B. Curtis, of 
Pompey; Oscar E., the third child, now resides in Roches- 
ter, N. Y., and is engaged extensively in the manufacbure 
and sale of furniture. William is with his father. 

Charles J., the seventh child of Allen W^illard Hayden, 
was born in 1816. He married Esther DanJiikls, of Fabius, 
and removed to Rochester early, and there engaged exten- 
sively in the furniture trade and manufacture. He was, in 
1855-6, mayor of Rochester, and has held other prominent 
positions. He has been very successful in business, estab- 
lishing large warelioases and manufactories of furniture, 
and has amassed a large fortune. His family consisted of 
Frances J., Oscar E., Omar D., Ella and Charles, Jr. Oscar 
E. died when quite young, and Omar D. when about twen- 
ty-two years old. 

Carmi, and a twin brother, who died, the eighth and ninth 



Bl(3 THE POMPEY RE-UNIO??. 

children of Allen Willard Harden, were born in 1818. Carmi 
Hajden married, in 1847, Ellen Butler, who was a daughter 
of Merritt Bntler, one of the first settlers and at the date of 
this sketch the oldest resident of Pompey. Carmi is a far- 
mer, keeps a summer boarding house, is also a carpenter and 
joiner, and is at present (1876) post-master of the village. He 
is now the only one of the family left in Pompey. He has 
but one child, Nellie. 

Angeline,the tenth child of Allen Willard Hayden,was born 
in 1819, married Solomon G. Chesebro, of Manlius, in 1842, 
and removed from there to Syracuse. The^^ reared a family 
of three daughters — M. Dorleska, Anna L. and Frances M. 

James E., the eleventh child, was born in 1822, and mar- 
ried Catharine Ives, of Oswego, in 1848, and settled early in 
Koehester, where he has since carried on very extensively 
and successfully the furniture trade. He too has succeeded 
in establishing a large manufactory and warerooms, and has 
amassed a large fortune. He has had five children, of 
Avhom only three are living, Eloine, Alexander and Aggie. 

A. Louisa, the twelfth child of Allen Willard Hayden, 
was born in 1825, m.arried Salmon P. Bishop, of Pompey, 
in 1859, and lived with her mother on the old homestead 
until the latter's death. Shethen,beingbrokendownin health, 
removed to Syracuse, where she died in 1867, at the age of 
forty-two years. She left no children. 

Mary Ann, the thirteenth child, was born in 1826, mar- 
ried Lucius A^Nearing, of Pompey, in 1851, and now lives 
in Syracuse, where Dr. bearing is a successful and promi- 
nent dentist. They have two children — Jennie and George. 

Sely C, the fou-teentli child of Allen Willard Hayden, 
was born in 1830, married Anna J. Coburn, of Cazenovia, 
in 1855, and the same year located in Syracuse, where he 
has since been extensively engaged manufacturing and deal- 
ing in furniture, has established a large business and amassed 
a good fortune. 

This is, in brief, the record of one of the largest and old- 
est, as well as one of the most successful families of Pompey. 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 317 

PELATIiKH HAYDEN AND DESCENDANTS. 

Pelatiab Hayclen was born in Newington, Connecticut, 
moved into Pompey from lungsboro, N. Y., witb bis wife 
Hepsibab and tbree cbildren, Abnira, Lucy and David 
Ellswortb. This was in February, 1816. He settled two 
miles south of the present viUage of Pompey, on alixrra par- 
tially cleared, joining the farms of John C. and Ira Jerome. 
Here be remained till bis death. His father was a soldier of 
the Revolution, Almira married Erastus Colton, of Pom- 
pey, and died without heirs, Novenibar 13, 1838. Lucy 
married James H. Child, of Sullivan, Chenango county, 
whom she still survives, also without issue, but the foster 
mother of two or tbree, making her home with her brother 
in the village of Pompey Hill. 

David E. was eight years of age, when the family moved 
from Kingsboro. Arriving at suitable age be married Lu- 
cinda Cooley, and continued on the old homestead more 
than fifty years, bringing up a family of four children — Hi- 
ram C, Caroline, Hector and Lucy. Two others died in in- 
fancy. 

Hiram C. became a minister of the gospel, having gradu- 
ated at Amherst College, and Union Theological Seminary 
of New York. At the time of this writing, (1874,) he has 
preached at Montville, Conn., a year and a half, four years 
as pastor of the First Congregational church, of Meriden, 
Conn. Four years as pastor of the First Congregational 
church, Painesville, Ohio, and is now pastor of the First 
Presbyterian church of Cleaveland, Ohio. At intervals of 
labor he has traveled in Europe, Egypt, Palestine, Sinai and 
California. He has been twice mamed, first to Elizabeth 
R. Coit, of Norwich, Conn., May 1st, 1861, who died thir- 
teen months thereafter, leaving an infant daughter who is 
still living. His second wife was Sarah J. Merriman, of 
Meridan, Conn., who is the mother of two children. 

Caroline Haydengave herself to the vocation of a teacher 
of music, and is now located at Lester, Michigan. Hector, 



318 THE rOMPEY RE-UNION. 

married Amelia Jones, of Pompey, after serving his coun- 
try in a cavalry regiment during the civil war of 1861 to 
1865, and settled in Meriden, Conn., pursuing the calling of 
a carpenter and builder. They have one child. Lucy mar- 
ried Richard Bishop, ofPompey, a farmer, and now resides 
in Lester, Michigan. They have four children. 



IIINSDELL FAMILY. 
In writing a history of the first settlers of Pompey, the 
writer has to bear in mind; first, that but little space can be 
allowed for each family ; and secondly, that he must not 
paint the bravery, honor and virtue of " a long line of noble 
ancestors," but confine hishistory to tiiosc only who actually 
settled in Pompey. 

Among the above named was David Ilinsdell, who was 
born at Salisbury, Conn., June 30th, 1854; but soon after 
his birth, his parents were compelled by the hostility of the 
Indians, to move to Lenox, Berkshire County, Mass., where 
they had formerly lived. Here David Ilinsdell grew to 
manhood, was married to Farozina Remus, and in due time 
became the father of five children, removing in 1787 to Gal- 
way, Saratoga County, N. Y. 

At this place five more children were born ; when he came 
to the conclusion that in order to support his growing fami- 
ly, he must remove to some more fertile locality, and Pom- 
pey seemed to him the modern Canaan for which he longed. 
The purchase of one-fourth of lot 6 was made 1794, and 
preparations made to move and occupy it the next season : 
but his house taking fire in the night, the family escaped 
with but little save what clothing they chanced to have on, 
thus rendering their migration impossible for a time. How- 
ever, in September, 1795, he sent Moses, his oldest son, then 
eighteen years of age, to Pompey to build a house and make 
such preparations as would enable the family to 
follow the coming winter ; once arrived upon the scene of 
his future labors, the vouthful Moses found that he had no 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 319 

resources to draw upon, but his brawn and muscle; there- 
fore, he drew upon them, and his draft was honored, for he 
first cut, logged, and burnt over two acres, which he sowed 
to wheat ; then from the logs he had sawed for the purpose, 
he built a losr house, coverinj? it with bark and havinfic it 
completed readj^ for the occupancy of the family who came 
in February, 1796. Here David Hinsdcll had two more 
children born, and from a school roll now in possession of 
the family, it appears that in the winter of 1799 and 1800, 
six of his children attended a school taught by Levi Jerome. 

David Hinsdell died in 1822, and his wife some years 
later, the homestead passing into the possession of Chauncy 
Hinsdell, who lived on it until his death, which occured a 
few years since, and his children still own it. All the sons 
except Chauncy and Moses,sought homes in other localities; 
Moses bujing fifteen acres on lot 17, in 1801, ot Mr. Sweet, 
giving therefor his note, as he had nothing else to 
give — adding however, in the course of time, five 
hundred acres to the first purchase. In order to 
follow out in detail my sketch of Moses Hinsdell, 
I must go back to 1798, when being twenty years of age,he 
bargained with his father for his time, cutting ofi" therefor, 
a certain piece ot timber, which being duly finished, he 
stepped out into the world to make his own furtune, being- 
possessed of good vigorous constitution, the clothes he had 
on, two pairs of shoes and his good axe. In 1800 he joined 
hands and fortunes with Rachacl Hibbard, marrj-ingher 
in November of that year; her worldly possessions being- 
one cow, eight sheep, and I think a little crockery ; she also 
was possessed of good common sense, a kind loving heart 
full of noble impulses and good will to all, and a self sacri- 
ficing disposition, which stood the test of more than fort}- 
j-ears of married life ; helping over the rough places, 
cheering the despondent, restraining the wayward and vola- 
tile, developing into a pure Christian mode of life which 
enabled her to say " thy will be done," when she was called 
to her reward in 1841. There were born unto this couple 



320 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

ten children — six sons and four duugUters, viz: Eli B, Hins- 
dell, who died at Salina, in 1850. Harriet Ilinsdell, (Mrs, 
David Barber,) now living in Syracuse. Polly Ilinsdell, 
(Mrs. John S. Wells,) who died in 1863. Eliza Hinsdell, 
(Mrs. L. B. Pitcher,) living in the town of Salina. Samuel 
Hinsdell, living at Fairmount, N. Y. 

David H. Hinsdell living at Manlius, IST. Y., Stephen 
Hinsdell living at Syracuse. Myraette Hinsdell, (Mrs. D. 
Fairbank,) living at Kalamazoo, Mich. Perry H. Hinsdell 
living in the town of Salina, and Moses B. Hinsdell who 
died in Lyons, Mich. In 1843, he was again married to 
Mrs. Phebe Underwood, who is still living at Forrestville, 
N. Y., but in 1 857 he died in Porapey, at the age of seventy- 
eight years. I have remarked that Moses Ilinsdell started 
out in life at twenty years ; and he so started determined to 
succeed, \{ tvnth, integrity and industry could succeed — as he 
knew they must. Following firmly in the path he marked 
out, he soon was a man of influence among his fellows, and 
(hiring his long life, no man could accuse him of extortion, 
fraud or nn truth. In his later years, he often remarked 
with pride, that no note he ever gave came to maturity un- 
paid, except in one instance, when an $100 note given on 
demand to the holder's order, came back to him after "many 
days," having passed current from one man to another in 
the usual first of April payments, until over twenty endorse- 
ments graced its back, having passed through over a score 
of hands, and paid over $2,000 of indebtedness. A veryposi- 
tice man, and one accustomed to think and act quickly, he 
was often wrong, and clung to that wrong with a tenacity 
worthy of a better cause ; but no man was more willing to 
accept the truth than he, when it was shown to him. He 
was generous to a fault in a cause he deemed luorthy. but no 
man, or set of men, ever caused him to swerve from a posi- 
tion his judgment told him was w^ell taken. He was just 
the kind of a man to settle in a new country, and help to 
develop it, and there are too few of the !n in this present 
dav. He never mixed much in politics, always refused of- 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. S21 

fice, and really accomplished what he said ought to be every 
man's mission, viz : "to make the world some better for 
havino; lived in it." 



DAVID HIBBARD. 

The reader will recognize the above as a Pompey name. 
The subject of this sketch was a revolutionary soldier, like 
many other pioneer residents of Pompey. He settled in 
Pompey on lot No. 6, in 1794. In addition to agricultural 
pursuits, he was a carpenter and joiner. During his early 
residence in Pompey, his son John was killed by the falling 
of a tree. This left him four sons and five daughters. The 
names of the four remaining sons were Samuel, Robert, Ja- 
cob and Isaac V. V. Hibbard, the latter of whom was a mem- 
ber of the N". Y. Assembly in 1853. Samuel M. Hibbard, a 
son of Isaac V. V., now occupies the old homestead of his 
grandfather, David. Samuel Hibbard, son of David, has 
two sons resident in Pompey ; one bears the name of his 
grandfather, David Hibbard ; the name of the other is 
Charles Hibbard. 



HEZEKIAH HOPKINS. 

Col. Hezekiah Hopkins was born in Harwinton, Litch- 
field Co., Conn., and moved thence with his family in 1800 
to CHnton, Oneida Co., N. Y. Here he remained about 
two years, and then came to Pompey Hill. He was married 
to Eunice Hubbell, by whom he had nine children ; five of 
them were sons and four daughters — Sheldon, Milton, Harry, 
Hezekiah, Jr., Richard, Fanny, Laura, Dothy and Charlotte, 
the latter being born about a year after their arrival in Pom- 
pey. Col. Hopkins kept the hotel on the site now (1874,) 
occupied by Peter Oley, some twenty-four year8,very much 
to the satisfaction of the public, keeping a verj'' temperate, 
quiet and orderly place. He sold to his son Harry and 
purchased a small farm near the village, where he and his 
wife lived with his son Hezekiah until their death, beins: 
at the time of their decease about seventy-eight years of 

21 



322 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

age. Soon ut'tcr purchasing the liotel, Harry built an addi- 
tion and continued to keep the hotel about three years,when 
he leased it to Capt. Pitt Dyer, for a term of years. 

He was Deputy Sheriff uuder Doctor Granger, and a very 
taithful and efficient officer. He also held the office of Com- 
missioner of Highways. In 1837 he sold his real estate in 
Pompey,and moved to Cleveland, Ohio,leaving his oldest son 
Jerome and daughter Caroline behind,both being employed 
in Manlius village, Jerome as a clerk in the store of Azariah 
Smith, and Caroline as a teacher. His wife, (Theodocia Je- 
rome,) died of consum}»tion, in Cleveland, in 1839. In 1841 
he married Mrs. Theodocia Hamilton, near Medina, Ohio, 
where lie lived on a farm with her for thirty years, when she 
died. And now being eighty-one years old and in failing 
health, he came to live with his son Jerome, in Cleveland, 
where he contiimed till his death in 1872. He was present 
at the Re-Union, June 29th, 1871. Mrs. Beardslee, of Syra- 
cuse, is now the only surviving member of the old Col. Hop- 
kins' family. Harry Hopkins' surviving children are Je- 
rome, Georii:e and Sophia, all living in and near Cleveland, 
■Olio. 



ENSIGN HILL. 

'Colonel Ensign Hill, who was one of the pioneer settlers 
of the east partof Pompcy, near Delphi, was born in Wash- 
ington, Berkshire County, Mass., May 28th, 1772; his wife 
Polly H. Kellogg, was born in Dalton, Berkshire County, 
Mass., February 29th, 177(;!; they were married September 
29th, 1801, and moved to Porapey in the fall of that year. 
Mr. Hill had been to Pompey the year before,had purchased 
fifty acres of land and cleared enough to ])ut up a pioneer 
house, near where tlie watering trough now is, about one 
hundred rods south of Delphi village. All he had when 
coming to Pompey, was a horse, saddle and bridle, which 
he sold to Judge Piatt near Utica ; the avails were ])aid 
towards his land; although possessed of the usual amount 
of energy and pluck characteristic of early settlers, the toil 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 328 

aud hardships incident to i)ioneer lite caused hiiu occasion- 
ally to feel despondent. When one day indulgin^^ in a mel- 
ancholy mood, a stranger rode up to where he was clearing- 
the forest and entering into conversation, finally offered 
him fifty dollars for his bargain in the purchase of his land: 
he thought if the stranger could sec fifty dollars in it, he 
could find it, and so he still toiled on, never more indulsrinir 
the wish to return permanently to the home of his childhood. 
He added largely to his first ])urchas9, and became one of 
the leading farmers in his neighborhood ; and although his 
pursuit was the tilling of the soil, lie always manifested a 
lively interest in public affairs. Descended from revolu- 
tionary ancestors, he earl}- formed an attachment to the 
military service, and became colonel of a regiment of mili- 
tia. He was a !N"ew England Democrat, and an ardent ad- 
mirer of Andrew Jackson. He was an earnest supporter of 
the administration of Madison, during the war of 1812. He 
lived to see Pompey, the home of his adoption, a popu- 
lous and thriving town ; his first wife died December 
20th, 1818, after which he married a widow lady, Mrs. 
Ilumphreyville. Mr. Hill died December 4th, 1832, hav- 
ing lived to see his favorite general and statesman ele- 
vated to the Presidency of the United States a second time. 
All his children were born in Pompey. Ensign W., the 
eldest, was born June 20th, 1802, was a farmer and mer- 
chant, an excellent [>enman and book-keeper; he resided in 
Pompey the whole of his life, which terminated September 
7th, 1870. Three children, Orange, Lydia S. and Charlotte, 
died in childhood. 

A second son. Orange, was born February 21st, 1806, 
and now lives in Delphi, and is a farmer. 

Charles E. K. Hill was born January 3d, 1810, and now 
lives on the old homestead in the elegant mansion erected 
by his father ; he is now an acting Justice of the Peace in 
Pompey, elected as a democrat, although his party is in ;i 
large minority in the town. 

William Hull Hill was born July 4th, 1812, and was 



324 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

named in honor of Hull's victory over the English. He re- 
tains the patriotism of his childhood, born as he was upon 
the nation's biithday; he it is of whom Luther R. Marsh 
said, upon the occasion of the Re-union ot Pompey's chil- 
dren, June 29th, 1871 : " that he came from New York with 
one Hull Hill, who had since acted as though he owned the 
whole Plill. 

Mary Ann Hill was married to Dr. Rocius Morse, and 
lived in Elmira; died January 6th, 1870. 

James L. Hill was the only child by his second wife ; he 
married an only daughter of Hamilton Allen, of Pompey 
Valley, and now resides near Syracuse. 



JOSIAH HOLBROOK 

Josiah Holbrook was one of the early settlers of Pompej'. 
He was born in the year 1757, in Adams, Mass., and married 
Racbel Wright. They resided in Adams, where some of 
their children were born, till 1792, when they commenced 
their journey to Pompey. Mr. Holbrook had purchased of 
a soldier a wood-land farm in Pompey, which he had never 
seen. Equipped as pioneer settlers usually w^ere, with all 
their household goods loaded upon a cart drawn by a yoke 
of oxen and a single horse for a leader, in 1792 they came to 
Springfield, Otsego Co., N". Y. Here they tarried with his 
sister till the spring of 1793, when in March they finished 
their pilgrimage to their future home located on Lot No. 53, 
the farm recently owned by Mr. Hubbard, east of Pompey 
Center. The family at that time consisted of Josiah Hol- 
brook, his wife, father and mother and six children — 
Abigal, Silas "W., Patty, Frestus, Rachel and Electa. Af- 
ter they came to Pompey four more children were born 
unto them, who, in the order of their ages, were Adol- 
phus, Josiah G., Amanda and Samuel. Adolphus was 
born in 1793, and is said to be the third white child born in 
Pompey. Few were then the conveniences of life, and 
many hardships were encountered. There were no roads or 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 825 

bridges ; by marked trees they came ; they pounded their 
corn in a mortar or went to Whitestown, near Utica, to milL 

It is true that Surveyors, the pioneers of civilization, had 
come before them and marked the trees, but before the gol- 
den harvests could be reaped, the majestic forests must yield 
to days of constant toil. How many of our generation are 
iitted for the obstacles which they manfully met, and heroic- 
ally overcome? About this time, over in Pompey Hollow 
came Ozias Burr, Samuel Draper and Mr. Lamb. David 
Green, too, came the same year and settled on what has 
since been called "Green's Corners." Soon after came Ba- 
rak Holbrook and Luke Holbrook, who married Wm. Du- 
guid's sisters. William Duguid, another of Pompey 's pio- 
neers, who is the ancestor of the Duguid family. 

Notwithstanding the limited resources at command, Mr. 
Holbrook, in common with his town's people, early became 
interested in public impro cements. He was one of the first 
subscribers to the Pompey Academy fund. As we look 
over the individual history of Pompey's pioneers, and note 
the personal sacrifices they made from their small and toil- 
some gains to the establishment of schools and churches and 
the interests of society, and make -comparison with the 
present public spirit manifested, we may well pause and ask 
ourselves whether this is an age of progress in Pompey or of 
retrogression. Mr. Holbrook was a Christian, and attended 
the Presbyterian church. 

Only two of his children are living. Festus, at the age of 
eighty-six years, resides in Michigan, having raised a large 
family who are all dead. Josiah G. resides south of Cold 
Water, Michigan, and has a large family. These two sons 
left Pompey and went west in the spring of 1815. All of 
his children were married while living in Pompey. He died 
in ]S"ovember, 1831, at the age of seventy-five years, and he 
and his wife, his father, mother, two sons and three daugh- 
ters, all lie beneath the green sod of the old hill town which 
they assisted to make rich with golden harvests. 

Silas W. Holbrook, the eldest son of the pioneer Josiah, 



326 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

married Thankful Skinner, whose father was also a Pom- 
pey pioneer, having settled on Lot No. 22, near Oran, in 
1794. Their children were Silas L. Holbrook, Levi S. Hol- 
brook, Aurelia Holbrook, Chapin M. Holbrook and Josiah 
E. Holbrook. Of these Silas L. married Nancy Hubbard, 
by whom he had three children, Henry L., B. Franklin and 
Dwight. They all live in Pompey. 

Levi S. Holbrook married Fidelia Woodward, September 
1,1831; they have no children. He now resides in Syra- 
cuse, having left Pompey a few years ago. He has been 
honored by his fellow citizens with various public trusts. 
From 1853 to 1858 inclusive, he represented Pompey in the 
Board of Supervisors, and the latter year was a member of 
the State Legislature. From 1862 to 1869 he was a revenue 
officer of the general government. 

Aurelia Holbrook married Samuel E. Tarbell, and they 
reside in Wisconsin. 

Chapin M. Holbrook married ^Malinda Safford, and they 
and their only child live in Pompey. 

Josiah E. Holbrook married Alcemena Smith, daughter 
of John Smith, a Pompey pioneer, and they reside in De- 
Witt, K Y. They have no children. 

Daniel W. Holbrook, another grandchild of the old pio- 
neer, married Martha Porter, of Pompey, and moved to 
Michigan, where he died. His wife now resides in Syracuse, 
and her son, Levi, with her. Their only remaining son, 
Daniel, is a resident of California. 

Adolphus Holbrook was twice married, and Jusiah G. 
Holbrook, of Jamesville, jST. Y,, was one of his children by 
his first wife. By his second wife he had two children, 
Maria andHenry PL, the son only being now living, making 
his home in Jamesville, N. Y. His widow lives in Pompey 
with Lucien Northrup, who was the InisDand of Maria, who 
died several years ago. Thus have Ave traced an imperfect 
record of another Pompey famil}^ and the reason why we 
have not made mention of them all, is because our informa- 
tion is not sufficient to make any further record authentic. 



THE POMPEY HE-UNION. 32/ 

JONAS HINMAN.- 

Jonas and Esther Hinman settled in Pompey in the year 
1796 or 1797; he was one of the earliest pioneers of the 
wilderness of Onondaga County. 

It is not necessary in this sketch, to give in detail, nor 
delineate particularly the hardships and sufferings of those 
times of which the surviving children and grand-children of 
those strong souls are conversant ; therefore, I pass to the 
time when Mr. and Mrs. Hinman were two of nine persons 
wdio organized the first Baptist Church of Pomjiey, which, 
at a later period, moved to Manlius village. 

Mr. Ilinman's family consisted of twelve children, and 
while the youngest child was an infant, by trusting too im- 
plicitly in human nature, he lost his property, since known 
as the Hubbard farm. He transplanted the apple orchard, 
still standing — nearly three-fourths of a century ago, when 
his oldest children were so small that with difficulty they 
carried water in little bottles to water and ke^^) alive the 
trees. At the time he met with his reverse fortune, he was 
past his prime in life, and broken in health; still, with his 
hopeful temperament and natural energy, he divided his 
family, and boldly entered on his second pilgrimage as pio- 
neer in the wnlds of Lysander. 

When he had there completed his log-cabin, he removed 
his wife and the younger children to the new home, to share 
the privations attending a new settlement, witii this dif- 
ference between the first and the last — in. the last instance 
he had eight children to suffer with him, instead of two. 

Mr. Hinman was generous to a fault, and his benevolence, 
supported by a deep-seated sense of christian ])iety and 
honor, and a full trust in Providence, and his natural firm- 
ness, all working together on his active nervous brain, set 
the ball in mention which should abolish imprisonment for 
debt. He looked upon that law as oppressive, unjust and 
wicked. He was bondsman for the poor, unfortunate men, 
till at last he released a villain, St. John, who was not a 



328 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

poor man, but secreted his property, and absconded ; con- 
sequently Mr. Hinman was obliged to sell his farm to pay 
the bond, and beggared his family, for which they suffered, 
as only natural pride and a preponderance of inherited sen- 
sitiveness can be made to feel, where pov^erty was looked 
upon as low and degrading by those who were more fortu- 
nate in possessing material wealth. 

I will say to the mothers of the present young generation 
of Pompey's children — instruct your children that ig- 
norance is far more degrading in every positioner depart- 
ment in life to which the}' may be called, than honest pov- 
erty. 

Nearly twenty years later Mr. and Mrs. Hinman i*eturned 
to Pompey to die among their brethren: their married 
life was sixty-two 3'ears, and in death they were not long- 
separated. Mrs. Hinman died aged seventy-eight ; Mr. Hin- 
man survived his wife but one year, aged eighty-six; 
they were buried in the cemetery at Manlius village. 

The names of Mr. Hinman's children, and where located, 
areas follows: Mary W. Symonds, Watertowii, X. Y.; 
Electa Drake, Yonkers, N. Y.; Sarah Clapp, dead ; Hervey, 
dead; Betsey, dead; Hiram, dead ; Horace, Lapeer Chy, 
Mich.; Lydia M. Wisner, Mahattan, Kansas; Charlotte N. 
Clement, Pompey, N". Y.; Heman, St. Catharines, Canada 
West; Samuel Hayden, unknown ; Emily H. Robinson, 
]^ew York City. 



DANIEL KNAPP. 

The subject of this notice was Daniel Knapp, who emi- 
grated from Orange County, N". Y., to Pompey, Onondaga 
County, N. Y., about the year 1800 ; he located on a fiirm 
one mile north from Pompey Academy ; his wife's maiden 
name was Christiauna Phelps, with whom he settled on the 
above mentioned farm in 1803 ; they lived together on that 
farm till 1823, enduring the hardships and engaged in the 
active labor of pioneer life. Durmg this period, six sons 
were born unto them. He died August 6th, 1823, and was 





^>/^3^-''^-^2''Z^^ ?, 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 329 

the first one buried in ihe Pompey Hill Cemetery as it is 
now located. His wife assumed the responsibility of set- 
tling the estate and managing the farm, exhibiting great 
energy and taet in her arduous duties ; she paid ofl the heirs 
as they became of age, which left her full control of the 
whole farm, which she managed for over forty years; at the 
age of eighty-three years, having become incapacitated to 
continue the management of her farm, she went to reside 
with her son, Harry Knapp, who still continues to reside in 
Pompey, where she died January 1st, 1869, at the advanced 
iige of eighty-seven years, leaving her children to inherit a 
second time the same estate upon which she and her hus- 
band had settled sixty-six years before. The value of her 
estate at the time of her death, was about eight thousand 
dollars. Such in brief is the history of one of the early set- 
tleis of Pompey and his faithful wife, furnished by one of 
their children. It is refreshing in these days of indolence 
and ease to notice the energy and pluck of such pioneer set- 
tlers as these, and it is ennnently proper to rescue their 
memory from lorgetfulness and present them as examples to 
the risins: o-eneration. 



REV. JOSHUA LEONARD. 

COMPILED BY LUTHER R. MARSH. 

Rev. JoViiia LL'otiard was a conspicuous feature in the 
early hist -/y ot tliis town ; ho cunicof English stock; tlirough 
the unvaiiiahle records published by the New England His- 
toric- GenealogiL-al Society of Boston, we are enabled to 
trace bis ancestrv. Rev. Peres Fobes, L. L. P., pastor of the 
Congregatiomtl Churcli in Raynhaui, Mass., furnished, some 
seventy years ago, an account of the Leonard family, which 
is believed to be the first famil}' genealogy of any considera- 
ble extent printed in New England : and, in 1851, William 
R. Deane, a member of the Society, brought the memoir 
down two generations 'ater. From these records, it appears 
that the progenitor of Rev. Joshua Leonard was James 
Leonard, who, with his brother Henry, son of Thomas 



330 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 



Leonard, came from Pontypool, in the maritime Englisli 
County of Monmouthshire, bordering on South Wales; ii 
region rich Avith collieries and blazing Avith furnaces, jjene- 
trated by the fertile vales of the Usk and the Wye— the 
scene of important historical events ; where Owen Glen- 
dower was defeated, and where, long after, Cromwell tri- 
umphed. The brothers, James and Henr}^ Leonard, 
came to Taunton, Mass., in 1652, and James established 
there the first iron-works in the Qnited States, and died, 
1691, aged seventy-three 3'ears. The manufacture of iron 
seems to have been an inheritance of the Leonards — not 
only before they came, but afterwards ; both in iSTew Jersey, 
where Henry settled and established that business— followed 
there by successive generations — and in Massachusetts, 
where, at I^ynn, Braintree, Rowley village, and Taunton, 
and at a later date at Canton, they set up their mills; so 
that it came to be said that, "where you can find Iron 
Works, there you will find a Leonard." 

" They were probably interested in most, if not all of the 
iron Avorks established in this country within the first cen- 
tury after its settlement, and it is a remarkable fact," says 
Mr. Deane, in 1851, " that the iron manufacture has con- 
tinued successivel}', and generally very successfully, in the 
hands of the Leonards or their descendants, down to the 
present day. Their old forge, though it has been many 
times remodelled, has been in constant use for nearly two 
hundred years, and is now in the full tide of successful ope- 
ration.'" 

" James and his sous, ■■ says the same authority, '••'often 
treated with the Indians, and were on sucli terms of friend- 
ship with them, that when tJ|ie war broke out. King Philip 
gave strict orders to his men never to hurt the Leonards. 
Philip resided in winter at Mount Hope ; but his summer 
residence Avas at Raynham, about a mile from the forge." 

Tradition says he was buried there under the front porch 
of the old Leonard mansion — a mansion Avhich sheltered 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 331 

the heads of six generations of the name — the brick used in 
its construction having been brought from England. 

James Leonard, (son of abovo James,) and his son James, 
were both Captains, and each lived to be move than eighty 
3'ears old. Stephen Leonard was a son of the latter, and 
was a justice of the Peace, and a Judge of the Court of 
Common Pleas. His oldest son. Major Zephaniah Leonard^ 
born March 18th, 1704, of Taunton, died on the same day 
his wife, 23d April, 1776 ; he in his sixty-third, she in her 
sixty-second year, and were both buried in the same grave; 
the inscription on the monument is historical. 

He was a man of enterprise and energy, possessing great 
native dignity of character, and filled with honor the dis- 
tinguished station in society which he attained. In 1761 
he was appointed a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, 
which office he held until his death. Their oldest son, Cap- 
tain Joshua Leonard, was born January 5th, 1724, and died 
27th ISTovember, 1816, aged 02 years. 

His oldest son was the Rev. Joshua Leonard, (of the sixth 
generation from the progenitor James,) the subject of this 
notice, who was born June 2oth, 1769. He graduated at 
Brown University, 1788; was first settled in Ellington, 
Conn., whence, about the year 1797 or 1798, he went to 
Cazenovia, Madison county, N. Y., then in its infancy; sta- 
tioning himself ou the rim of civilization as it advanced 
westward across the continent. At this place, on the 17th 
of May, 1799, he formed a Presbyterian Church — the first 
one there, consisting of only nine members ; he continued the 
pastor of this church about fourteen years, when, on account 
of impaired health, he resigned his charge; the church then 
numbering 127 members. In a theological work published 
by him at Cazenovia in 1834, " The Unity of God," he says: 
" I was the first pastor who settled in this wide region of 
country ; my church was a single, independent, Congrega- 
tional Church; I was a single, independent, Congregational 
Minister. From Cazenovia to the Pacific Ocean, tliere was 
not one Congregational or Presbyterian pastor: not one in 



*^'^^ THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

this State to the north or south of me; not one to the east 
nearerthan Mr. Steele, of Paris, in Oneida county." On 
leaving the Cazenovia church, he moved to Pompey, and 
in 1814, became preceptor of the Pompey Academy ; occu- 
pying that position for eight years. Under his administra- 
tion that Institution flourished, and had a wide influence. 

He still continued to accept the frequent invitations to fill 
the neighboring pulpits. He was a man of sterling inteo-ri- 
ty, untiring industry, of a fetterless independence and bold- 
ness, of very extensive reading, large and accurate acquire- 
ments, and a singular power of condensed expression. 

As, robed in a long flowing morning gown, with high 
hose and kneo-buckles, staft^ in hand, ho used to take his 
rapid morning walks through the village, he leit an impres- 
sion of dignity and goodness ou the minds of the youth so 
vivid, that it has yet scarcely been dimmed by the half cen- 
tury intervening. 

He died at Auburn, at his daughter's, Mrs. Helen L Wil- 
liams, December 18th, 1843, aged 75 with faculties unim- 
paired, retaining his undiminished interest in all the literary 
and scientific progress of the day ; Mrs. Leonard having died 
at Linckhien, Chsnango county, nineteen years previous. Of 
their nine children, six survive, and reside at Chicago, 111. 
the youngest of whom is sixty-three years old; longe'vity 
being one of their characteristics, as if some of the iron of 
their manufacture had entered into their composition ; a sis- 
ter still surviving, at Kaynham of the age of ninety-nine. 



LUTHER MAllSH 

Must have come to Pompey sometime prior to 1812. Born 
Walpole, N. IL, October 14, 1782; died, Chicago, ^-ovem- 
ber 14, 1859, aged 77. Re was son of Captain Elisha Marsh, 
(who subsequently removed from Walpole to Guilford, Ver- 
mont,) and grandson of Rev. Elisha Marsh, a graduate of 
Harvard, and the first minister at Westminster, Mass., from 
1742 10 1757. 




ILOT^miSI^ MIAI^^IE 



I 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 333 

This cl ergyman was arraigned for heres}^, for saying that 
"obedience is the condition of salvation ;" and that "he 
would as soon worship the devil as worship such a being as 
requires more from his creatures than they are able to per- 
form ;" for saying that "if all that was required of a man 
Avas to believe, then the condition of salvation was easy and 
pleasant to fools." He was a spicy character. One morn- 
ing, on meeting the sheriff from a neigbboring town, who 
was on his way to sue the town, and who, pursuant to the 
custom to serve writ on some one of the citizens, served it on 
him ; saying in a })lcasant manner as the handed him the 
writ; "The grace of God, Mr. Marsh." "Yes, by tbe 
hands of the Devil," was the quick retort. He moved to 
Walpole, Cheshire Co., N. H., and became Judge of the 
Court ot Common Pleas. 

Luther Marsh was the fifth, in direct line, from John 
Marsh, one of the first settlers of Hadley, Mass., and after- 
wards, 1639, of Hartford, Conn., where he married Anne, 
daughter of John Webster, Governor of Connecticut. Lu- 
ther Marsh, June 24th, 1812, married ^wi?na i?rtzf;50??,daugh- 
ter of Doctor Thomas Hooker Rawson, of Canandaigua, N". 
Y. She was the fourth from Rev. Grindal Rawson, of Men- 
don, Mass., tbe friend and classmate at Harvard, of Cotton 
Mather ; who, in preaching his funeral sermon, (1715,) said, 
"We honored him for his doing the work of an Eoangelist 
among our Judeans, of whose language he was a master that 
had scarce an equal, and for whose welfare his projection 
and performances were such as to render our loss herein 
hardly to be repaired. Such services are Pyramids." Grin- 
dal Rawson was the twelfth child of Edward Rawson, of Bos- 
ton,who came over from England in 1636, and was, for 
thirty-six years, 1651-1686, Secretary of the colony of Massa- 
chusetts. Emma Rawson was also the sixth from Rev. 
Charles Chauncey, the second President of Harvard College. 
She died atPompey, April 4th, 1820. By this marriage there 
were four children, of whom two survive ; Luther Rawson 
Marsh, lawyer, ISTew York city, and Elisha Azro Marsh, 
dealer in mines, California, 



-334 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

Lutlier Marsh married, for second wife, Margaret Leon- 
ard, daugliter of Rev. Josliiia Leonard, of Pompey. She re- 
sides at Chicago. By this marriage there were two chil- 
dren, Alexander Marsh, lumber merchant, and Joshua Leon- 
4ird Marsh, lawyer, both of, Chicago, III. 

Luther Marsh was High-Sheriff of Onondaga county for 
two terms, 1B23-G. 



NOAH PALMEE, Sr. 
Was born in Brantford, Conn., in the year 1764. When 
he wa5 seven years old his father died in Connecticut,abont 
■the beginning of the Revolutionary War. As early as 1790 
he came from Brantford to Cazenovia, and bought a place 
with Col. Linclaen, in 1797, in Pompey, near Oran, now 
owned by his grand-son Daniel D. Palmer. Upon this farm 
he lived thirty-eight years. After he died his son Noah 
owned it thirty-six years. He was a nail maker, and worked 
for old Col. Linclaen at that business for five or six years. 
It is said he made the first nails that were used in bmlding 
in the town of Pompey. He died in tlie year 1835, upon 
the land which he purchased in 1797, in Pompey; his son 
Noah succeeding him in the title to the estate. Two of 
his children, Noah and Martha, were born in Pompej^, 
and these are both now (1874) dead. One daughter Mrs. 
Edmund Thomas, is living. Mr. Palmer was of that type 
of manhood whose stern and unyielding integrity bears 
fruit, in the years when his form lies silent in the grave, 
of whom it may be justly said, "Tho' dead he yet speaks." 



DR. SILAS PARK. 

Silas Park was born in Litchfield, Conn., December 1st, 
1778. Having acquired a good education, he commenced 
the study of medicine with his uncle. Dr. Robt. Starkweath- 
er in Chesterfield, Mass. He moved to Pompey West Hill, 
in 1800, and commenced the practice of his profession,his 
ride extending from Liverpool, on the north, to Port Wat- 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 335 

3011, (Cortland village,) on the south, and from Skaiieateles 
on the west, to Cazenovia on the east. This area then con- 
tained less than 3,000 white settlers whose population is now' 
over 200,000 people. In 1802, he returned to Massachusetts 
and married Miss Dolly Clapp, of Chesterfield, daughter of 
Col. Amasa Clapp, of Chesterfield, a soldier of the Revolu- 
tion. On his return to Pompey, crossing the Hudson river 
at Albany in a sleigh, the ice broke, letting sleigh, horses, 
baggage, wife and all into the Avater. They narrowly es- 
caped drowning. They were rescued by citizens of A Ibany, 
who by chance saw them in their danger. This accident 
compelled them to remain in Albanj^ a day or more. 
Nothing unusual occurred during the remainder of their 
journey. In 1803 their first child and only son. Dr. Elijah 
Park was born. In the war of 1812, Dr. Silas Park went as 
a surgeon with the soldiers who were called from this sec- 
tion to Smith's Mills and Sackett's Harbor. There he met 
surgeons of the regular army, and he took a high position 
among them as a skillful })hysiciaii and surgeon. He died 
in 1824. His wife survived him, living at the old home till 
she reached the age of 05 years, and died in the year 1867. 
When we ask what can be said of her, the answer is, "Any- 
thing and all that is good." 

Their only son, Dr. Elijah Park Avas born in Pompey, now 
LaFayette, April 1st, 1803, and he studied with his father, 
and also with Doctors Beach and Davis of Marcellus, and 
his uncle Dr. Elijah Park, ot Otisco, He graduated at the 
Berkshire Medical Institute, December 26, 1826. He was 
at the time he graduated and has continued to be a practic- 
ing Physician up to the time of his death, his home being in 
LaFayette village. He Avas married twice, the first time 
August 24, 1824, to Miss Catharine Parent, of Otisco. By 
her he had ten children, four sons and six daughters; seven 
ofthenijtAvo sons and five daughters are married and living 
Avithin three hours ride of the old home. One married a 
i'arpenter and joiner, the others are farmers or farmers' 
AviA^es. He Avas married a second time, April 14, 1843, 



336 THE POMPEY RE-UNI.ON. 

to Betsey Parent, liis first wife's sister, by wljoin he had two- 
children, both oi whom are dead. Both his wives are also 
dead, Catharine died September 20, 1842, and Betsey De- 
cember 4, 1867. Dr. Park held the office of Supervisor of 
the town of LaFayette, three years 1861-2 and 3, and was a 
Justice of the Peace one, 1869. His medical practice ex- 
tended over the county of Onondaga, and often in the neigh- 
boring counties. For nearly fifty years he rode over the 
hills and through the valleys of his native counly, kindly ad- 
ministering to the w^ants and necessities of the afiiicted. 
His life was too busy in dispensing the healing art to allow" 
liim time to make collections, and like Dr. Wm. Taylor, of 
Manlius, although he did a business that would have yield- 
ed a large fortune, he died June 17, 1873, leaving but a 
moderate share of worldly possessions, but rich in the kind 
wishes of his many friends, and richer still in the smiles of 
his beneficent Redeemer. 

The following notice ot his death appeared in a Syracuse 
paper, the day after his decease. 

Death of Dr. Elijah Park of LaFayette. — Dr. Elijah 
Park, one of the oldest and most respected residents of this 
county, died at his residence in LaFayette, on Tuesday morn- 
ing, aged 71 years. Dr. Park was born in the tov/n of La- 
Fayette, and was the son of Silas Park, an eminent physi- 
cian, who resided in that town. The son followed the foot- 
steps of his lather, attended medical lectures at Berkshire 
Medical College in Pittsfield, Mass., in 1827, and became 
one of the most pojtular jihysicians in this section of the 
State. He had a very extensive practice in his immediate 
neighborhood, and was frequently called as counsel to 
other localities. The deceased was always an active poli- 
tician and popular citizen, and represented his town for sev- 
eral terms in the Board of Supervisors, and held other re- 
sponsible town offices. He was elected Justice of the Peace 
three terms in succession at a period when the i)arty with 
which he acted was in a large minority in the town, but his 
well known integrity and capacity carried him over party 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 337 

lines and elected him to the office. He was always anion o- 
the foremost in village or town enterprises, and Jiis jiido-- 
ment, sagacity, and proved integrity and honestj^, placed 
him in the front rank among his fellow citizens on all occa- 
sions Avhere intelligence, prudence, and sagacity, were need- 
ed to direct the councils of the people. He had a wide' cir- 
cle of relatives and acquaintances, and his loss will be sin- 
cerely mourned by all who knew him. The funeral will 
take place on Thursday afternoon at 2 o'clock, under the 
direction of the order of Odd Fellows, of which the deceased 
was a prominent member, and of the order of Free and Ac- 
cepted Masons of which he was also a member. 



LEMAK HARMON PITCHER. 

COMPILED BY LEMAM BAKER PITCHER. 

Leman H. Pitcher was born in Rutland,Vermont, Novem- 
ber 26th, 1781 ; he was the son of Reuben, the son of Ebene- 
zer, the son of Samuel, Jr., the son of Samuel, Sr., the son 
of Andrew, who came of Somerset County, England, in 1633, 
and settled in Dorcester, Mass., where he died in 1660. 

Leman H. Pitcher went to school about six months before 
he was eight years old, and about three more between the 
age of twelve and thirteen. From eight to twelve he lived 
with his uncle Harmon, who was too poor to send him to 
school, yet rich enough to send his own son of like age, 
summer and winter. At one time he asked his uncle if 
he might go to school, and the reply was "that it cost 
money," and "that it was not expected that everybody would 
go." This caused him to cry, for which he was called a 
"booby," and ordered off to bed. In later years, he has often 
told his children, that this circumstance caused him to form 
a resolution, "that he would know something if he had to 
steal it." While young Oliver, his cousin, played and slept, 
Leman H., as opportunities offered, read his books, and at 
twelve he was the better scholar. The next year he lived 
with his mother, and the two succeeding years worked out 

22 



338 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

for §50 and $65 per year. lu 1790, he and the family moved 
to Pompey, and settled where Adison H. Clapp now resides. 
In the winter of 1797 or 1798, he and John Sprague studied 
arithmetic during the evenings with an old surveyor, who 
lived near Watervale, to whom they gave a bushel of oats, 
then of the value of tifteen cents, for each evening. 

In Xovemher, 1798, his right foot was nearly severed just 
below the ankle joint. AVhen climbing a well post to assist 
in adjusting the well sweep, his step-father Starkweather, 
attempted to strike the axe in the post, to assist him in 
climbing, but his foot slipping just as the axe fell, received 
the tuU force of the blow, and his foot was held only by the 
skin of the heel, A council of Doctors w^as held, and all ad- 
vised amputation ; one said, " it might possibly get well ;" 
to this he replied, "I am without education, trade or money, 
and I had rather go to the grave with my foot, than to live 
a poor cripple all my life;" "do the best you can, I am re- 
.solved to live or die with my foot." During the following 
year while the wound was healing, he studied hard to pre- 
pare himself for teaching schoool and for business. In 1800 
he tauo-ht his first school in a school house that stood near 
the corners about a mile north-westerly from the Hill to- 
wards Jamesville. In 1801 and afterwards he taught on the 
Hill as related by Mrs. Miller in her paper, June 29, 1871. 
He continued to teach live or six years, winters, and some- 
times summers. Between 1801 and 1808 he was constable 
and deputy sheriiF, and about this time he became a free 
mason. In the Spring of 1808 he married Hannah Baker, 
aunt of Dea. Samuel Baker, of Pompey Hill, and moved to 
Camillus, K Y. 

Leman B. Pitcher was in Camillus January 30th, 1809. 
Mr. Pitcher was engaged in the fall of 1810, and the winter 
and summer following in preparing and rafting hewn tim- 
ber for the Montreal market. Going down the Oswego riv- 
er he ventured too near the falls and was carried over with 
a broken raft with two other men one of whom was drowned. 
All he had (about |4,000) and something more, w\as embarked 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION, 339 

in the business. After some loss of timbers and many de- 
lays he sailed from Oswego Avith his re-collected raft and was 
again damaged in running the rapids of the St. Lawrence 
river, and linally when about fifty miles above Montreal the 
news of the declaration of war reached him. This news was 
unexpected. Two days later his timber in _^Montreal was 
worth only half price, and the next only a third and no cash 
at that, and to make bad worse he was notified to take the 
oath of allegiance or leave in three days. If he left his tim- 
ber, it would be confiscated. lie therefore sold it for dry 
goods, being the best he could do, and as non-intercourse 
was declared, his only chance was to smuggle the goods 
home. Thisdie attempted, but when near Ogdensburgh, his 
goods were seized and he arrested. His excuse was that 
the circumstances compelled him to do as he had done, and 
through the influence of his masonic brothers he was allowed 
or enabled to escape. He reached Oswego with sixteen 
cents and a roll of coarse cloth. All else was gone. When 
he left home he expected to return in five or six weeks with 
^6,000 or 17,000. He was gone from June to January, and 
came back with almost nothing. In the Spring of 1812, he 
took a farm on the ridge road two miles east of Lewiston on 
the Niagara frontier, where he raised vegetables which he 
sold to the soldiers stationed at Lewiston. He also bought 
of others and sold. In this way he accumulated over $2,000, 
before the 19th of December, 1813. . Then the British and 
Indians who had crossed the river about three miles below^ 
the night previous, surrounded his house and took him and 
his family prisoners, plundered them of every thing they 
thought worth carrying away, and burned the remainder 
with the buildings. Mr. Pitcher was taken by one party 
who had charge of the men prisoners destined for Halifax. 
On the road half way to the river, this party was attacked by 
the Tuscarora friendly Indians, and while the skirmish was 
going on he escaped. The mother and her three children, 
Leman B., Sally and Nancy were stripped of every garment 
that could tempt the cupidity of a savage. The last gar- 



340 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

raent was an old red cloak. This an Indian demanded and 
an officer told him he " must not have it," for which the 
Indian shot him. The snow was about six inches deep, and 
Mrs. Pitcher with a babe in her arms, a sick boy on her back, 
and a little girl walking by her side, half naked with other 
prisoners was driven on by a drunken and uncontrollable 
rabble of Indians and a few British soldiers. On the road 
they saw one child tomahawked, another gun-clubbed, and 
still another empaled upon the stake of a fence. The num- 
ber of women and children prisoners from Mr. Pitcher's 
neighborhood, was nineteen. Thej^ had rations for three 
days, and after that they were turned adrift to live and sleep 
in the woods near Queenstown, without lire, food or cloth- 
ing. For nearly three weeks they lived on what the soldiers 
and Indians threw away, and slept close together to keep 
warm in a rude cabin made of poles and brush. They were 
put over the river and set at liberty at Lewiston, without 
food, the snow nearly 10 inches deep. They followed the 
ridge road east by the ruins of their home, and coming to an 
old house they covered the blood-stained floor with straw, 
and nestled down to rest. About 11 o'clock at night, they 
were startled by the cry of " who comes there," and " I have 
a flag of truce." It was Mr. Pitcher who had that day been 
to Forts Niagara and George, and up to Queenstown, where 
he learned that his wife, children and others had been set at 
liberty. When he ibund them he was returning to get horses 
to go to Buftalo that night. The sleigh he procured was 
soon filled with nineteen happy souls, women and children, 
while he, his brother James and a friend, ran by their side, 
thirteen miles, when they all found food and rest. A few 
days after, in the early part of January', 1814, Mr. Pitcher 
and his family arrived safely in Pompey. Thus, twice was 
Mr. Pitcher ruined by the war. In the following fall he 
commenced keeping a hotel five miles east of Buftalo, 
where in sixteen months he cleared §1,800.00, with which in 
the Spring of 1816, he moved into Chautauque county on a 
branch of the Allegany river. 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 341 

The cold seasons of 1816,17 and 18, were unproductive,and 
in 1821 he moved poor and discouraged to the Cataraugiis 
creek, and ever after only tried to '"bring the year about." 
Here he acted as Justice of the Peace for thirty-six years, 
noted as a peace-maker, and no judicial decision of his was 
ever reversed. In 1826, while traveling on a journey in 
Genesee county, a heavy shower coming up he stopped and 
finally remained over night with a farmer, and there found 
" The old family Bible," which was taken in 1813, carried to 
Canada, retaken by the U. S. soldiers, brought back and sold 
at Black Rock for whiskey, and afterwards bought by the 
farmer for half a bushel of potatoes. The last eight years 
of his life Mr. Pitcher spent with his son Leman B. Pitcher, 
and he died April 14, 1867. His brother James P. Pitcher 
will be remembered by the early residents of Pompey as a 
successful school teacher from 1805 to 1810. He married 
Anna Brewer, and went with his brother to Buffalo and 
Chautauque County, and about forty years ago, to Oakland 
County, Michigan, where he and his wife died in 1868, re- 
spected by all who knew them. 



MANOAH PRATT, Sr. 
Manoah Pratt, Sr. was born in 1754, in Glastenbury, Con- 
necticut, and in 1796 he came to Pompey. He and Abra- 
ham Smith purchased five hundred acres of land on Lots No. 
39 and 40, obtaining title thereto through General Fish, of 
ISTew York city. Pratt's Falls are upon this land. At this 
time but few settlers were located in this part of the town. 
Murry had settled on Lot ISTo. 28, and Hezekiah and Ezra 
Dodge on Lot N'o. 50. Messrs. Pratt and Smith commenced 
immediately to reclaim their wilderness farms, and a beau- 
tiful creek running through that of Mr. Pratt, he erected a 
saw mill and a flouring mill in 1796, being among the first 
mills built in Onondaga County. These mills were built 
upon the rock overlooking the falls, where the miller attend- 
ing to his accustomed labor was in constant communion with 
the magnificent natural scenery of the place, viewing at 



342 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

will objects ofgrandeur and sublimity, that the lover of na- 
ture would travel miles to witness. 

Mr. Pratt, had married a Miss Elizabeth Loveland, daugh- 
ter of Solomon Loveland, of Glasteabury, and all his chil- 
dren were born in Connecticut, except the youngest, Ma- 
noah Pratt, Jr., who was among the earliest of the sons of 
Pompey. Having procured a frontier home his family came 
to Pompey in February, 1797, and with them came his 
father-in-law, Solomon Loveland, who was a miller, and 
who for some twenty years attended the mill. At the age 
of eighty-five years he would take a bag of two bushels of 
wheat from the back of a horse and carry it into the mill. 
He died at the age of ninety-seven years, and was buried in 
the cemetery near what was knowm as " Dodge's school 
house," near the center of the present town of Pompey. Mr. 
Pratt, in addition to carrying on his saw and flouring mills, 
engaged in agriculture, making large additions to his first 
purchase. He was active in the early improvements of the 
town, and contributed freely to the establishment of schools 
and churches. He was one of the first to organize the 
Pompey Academy, was a member of the building com- 
mittee and s[)ent much time and money in assisting to bring 
the enterprise to a successful termination. He finally do- 
nated one hundred dollars to the institution, for which he 
gave a mortgage on his land, which his son Manoah Pratt, 
Jr., finally paid after his father's death. He closed busy 
life in death at the age of eighty-seven years, in the year 
1841. His wife survived him only one year, and died at 
the age ef eighty-eight years, and the meniory of their he- 
roic labor and constant toil remains a rich legacy to their 
descendants. 

Their children in the order of their ages, were Lucretia, 
Joseph, Betse}', Daniel, Jared, Onor and Manoah, Jr. Lu- 
cretia, the eldest, married Chester Howard, and they in turn 
became pioneers, moving to Ohio in 1836, and settled in 
Westfield, about thirty miles from Columbus. At ages 
above eighty years both have gone bej'ond the final river, 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 343 

leaving them surviving lour sons. Two of these have since 
died. One lives in Ohio, and the residence of the other is 
unknown to the writer. So runs the stream of life until it 
is lost in eternity. Joseph Pratt was a farmer, and lived and 
died upon the land inherited from his father. He nuirried 
Eunice Smith, who is also dead, and three children survive 
them, one son, Joseph, resides upon a part of the old home- 
stead. Two daughters are also living. 

Betsey Pratt married Henry Cook, a son of Truworthy 
Cook, who was a pioneer of Pompe}-. When her father's 
tamily came to Pompey a severe accident happened to Bet- 
sey on the journey. It was near Schenectady, where they had 
stopped for refreshments. Active as children will he, she 
was on the street engaged in play, when a loaded sleigh came 
down a hill w'ith such speed as to prevent her getting out of 
the way. She was thrown down and the loaded sleigh 
passed over her leg grinding it to a jelly. Thelimhwas 
amputated and yet the accident only detained them three 
days. Although thus crippled she would dan6e with ease. 
They moved to a place near three river point and settled 
near the Seneca river. They too, are hoth dead, and their 
daughter Jerusha also. Freelove lives with her aunt Onor, 
and of the remaining two, Henry lives in Antwerp, and Mun- 
s(m in Philadelphia, Jefferson (V^unty, I^. Y. 

Both of the sons are wealthy farmers, engaged extensively 
in dairying and dealing in cattle. 

Daniel Pratt married Mary Morgan, and they lived in 
Pompey till their death, engaged in farming. They left 
five children, of whom Mrs. Hodge, widow of the late John 
Hodge, of Fayetteville, and Eugeno D. Pratt, reside in Fay- 
etteville, K Y., S. D. Pratt, in Peim Yan, N. Y., Edward 
Pratt, at Oran, in Pompey, and Homer D. Pratt, at Manlius 
Center, K Y. 

Jared Pratt, resided in Pompey till about the year 1830, 
when he moved to Jeiiersen County,'^. Y. After a resi- 
dence there about five years he moved to Michigan, upon 



-"^44 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

the territory in dispute between Michigan and Ohio. The 
dispute terminated in favor of Ohio, and this left him in the 
latter State, where he remained engaged in farming till his 
failing strength obliged him to abandon that vocation. He 
died in Ohio, and only one grand-child now remains of his 
family. 

Onor Pratt married Joseph Chase, a wealthy farmer who 
resided in Jefferson Co., N. Y., till his death. His widow 
survived him and is still living on the farm at the age of 
eighty-one years. Although blind, in which condition she 
has been for several years, she carries on a dairy farm of 
three hundred acres, with sixty to seventy cows. A sister's 
daughter, Freelove Cook, lives with her, giving the old lady 
the benefit of her sight in the management of the farm. 
Mrs. Chase has no children. 

Manoah Pratt, Jr. was born in Pompey, in 1798. He 
early showed an interest in books, and was sent to the Acad- 
emy, where he received a liberal education under the tuition 
of Burehard and Leonard. After he had completed his 
Academical course he entered the law office of Daniel Wood, 
Esq., the father of Senator D. P. Wood, of Syracuse. With 
him, and subsequently with Samuel Baldwin and Victor}^ 
Birdseye in succession, he finished his legal studies and was 
admitted to practice in 1823. Before this, in 1819, he had 
engaged in teaching school in connection with his studies. 
He taught in the common schools and the Academy, and 
among his pupils were Governor Seymour and other Pom- 
pey boys of his age, who cherish the remembrance of their 
school boy days when he was their teacher, with the great- 
est pleasure. 

About the time he was admitted to the practice of law his 
father's advanced age incapacitated him to attend to his 
farming and other duties. His older brothers were mostl}'' 
settled and he was pursuaded to abandon the law and em- 
bark in agriculture. Accordingly, having married Miss 
Charlotte Ball, he became a farmer, and settled upon the old 
homestead, taking care of his aged parents for nearlj^ the 



( THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 345 

remainder of their lives. His fellow citizens, however, 
would not allow him to remain entirely in retirement upon 
his farm, and for four years he representeed Pompey in the 
Board of Supervisors, and for one year was a Member of 
the State Legislature. In all his public official duties he 
manifested capacity and integrity that would be refreshing 
in these days of venality and corruption. 

His first wife lived only ten years after their marriage, and 
she left five children who were in the order of their ages — 
Othello C, Calvin B., Helen C, Mary E. and Leonidas E. A 
few years after the death of his first wife, he married Miss 
Pamelia Slauson, by whom he had one child, Marcus M. 
Pratt. With her he lived twenty-two years and she died. 
It was during this latter married life that a severe affliction 
came upon him, the nerve in his right leg became dis- 
eased to such an extent that he was obliged to submit to a 
painful surgical operation by which a part of the nerve was 
taken out, and he became again comparatively strong but to 
some extent lame. 

After the death of his second wife, he married a Mrs. 
Adams with whom he is now living in the village of Pom- 
pey Hill, having sold his farm some twenty years ago. By 
his third wife he has one child, Carrie D. Pratt, now eleven 
years of age, the pride and comfort of her parents. During 
the past few years the nervous affection of his leg returned 
to trouble him, if possible, with redoubled fury. This time 
the attack was in the lower extremity of the limb, and the 
excrutiating torture which he suffered was beyond the en- 
durance of any ordinary man. Although he had the most 
skilful medical aid and the best of care, his limb finally be- 
gan to mortify and a counsel of Physicians gave him up to 
die. It was, however, determined to amputate the lower 
part of the leg, that it might be endurable to nurse him. 
This being done, to the surprise of all, his unconquerable 
tenacity for life mastered the difficulty, and he became well 
again. He manages to get about with the aid of a chair, re- 
fusins to use crutches. 



34() THE POMPEY KE-UNION. 

But liis suftering did not end. Last winter as he was go- 
ing home from Capt. Taylor's store, he fell and injured t'-.o 
unlucky limb and received a great shock to his nervous sys- 
tem. Again his life is in iminent danger, but again that 
iron will and tenacious clinging to life overcomes the diffi- 
culty, and to-day, (Summer of 1875,) having a full head of 
black hair and black whiskers with a sound limb to help his 
locomotion, he would pass for a man of forty-five. Physi- 
cally incapacitated as he is, he cultivates his garden, saws 
his own fire-wood, takes an interest in public affairs and 
keeps posted on all the current topics of the day. His Blind 
is vigorous, and his memory retentive. In politics he has 
always been a democrat, and hopes to see the day when the 
people will wake up to the necessity of demanding of their 
public servants honesty in the administration of govern- 
ment, or if otherwise, to require them to step down and out. 
He is, probabl}', the oldest living [lerson who was born in 
Pompc}-, and nothwithstanding his physical afflictions, is 
quietly passing down the declivity of life with apparently as 
much enjoyment as falls to the lot of man. Othello C. Pratt 
his eldest son, like his father, received a liberal education at 
thePompey Academy, as did all Mr. Pratt's children. He 
was in 1849 a pioneer Californian, and knows much of the 
hardships of pioneer life. Having seen the golden State 
arise from infancy to a condition of wealth and influence, and 
having himself acquired a competency, he returned in 1857 
to his natir^e town, and married Lucinda, eldest daughter of 
O.J. Wheaton, ofPompey, and he is now a resident of the 
healthful village of Pompey Hill. 

Helen C. Pr aft married E. Beard, of Pompey, and they 
reside in Syracuse, !N". Y. He is engaged in the furniture 
trade with Seley Hayden, also a son ofPompey. 

Calvin B. Pratt went to California among the early ad- 
venturers, and died in ITevada. 

Mary Pratt married Orville Slauson, of Pompey, a far- 
mer, and resides on the old Slauson homestead, about two 
miles north of Pompey Hill. 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 347 

Leoiiidas Pratt, a lawyer, and married, resides in San 
Francisco, California. Heh"R acquired some distinction in 
the golden State, having held the office of District Attor- 
ney, Supreme Court Judge and State Senator. 

M. M. Pratt resides in Phoenix, Oswego Co., ^N". Y. He 
is adjuster of claims, and assistant Secretary of the Onondaga 
and Oswego Insurance Company. 

Carrie D. Pratt, the youngest child, remains with her pa- 
rents. So closes an imperfect record of a family that has 
kept the ancestral name untarnished. So should it be with 
all the families of our land. 



MILLARD ROBINSON. 

The old residents of Pompey will remember the earnesi 
and impressive singer at the Methodist Camp Meetings. 
That singer was Millard Robinson. His father, Isaac Rob- 
inson, was a soldier in the revolutionary war, and died in 
Otisco, Onondaga Co., having early come to that town from 
Saratoga Co., N. Y. Millard was born in the town of Ed- 
inbury, Saratoga Co., Nov. 13th, 1792. At the age of 16 
he became converted, and united with the Methodist Epis- 
copal church, of which he was an earnest and prominent 
member till death called him away. October 10th, 1810, 
he was married to Electa Grim,es, a daughter of Ti.omas 
Grimes, Esq., and in 1811, moved to Pompey, and scUled 
two and a half miles south of Pompey Ilill. He served as a 
musician in the war of 1812. Built a section of the Erie ca- 
nal, and afterwards purchased a farm of one hundred acres, 
three miles oast of Pompey Hill, about the year 1825, on 
Lot No. 65. Here he raised a large family of children and 
remained on this flirm till his death, which occurred in 1867. 



JOHN SMITH. 
Almost every community has its John Smith. The list 
of the pioneers of Pompey would be incomplete without a 



348 



']'III'; I'OMI'KY RK-IINION. 



John Sinilli, ImiI, ol' liiiii vvlio vv.im umkhii;' (Jk! lii'Hl, Hotllci'H of 
J*()iii|i(!y l,li(!r(j iH more lliiiii Hirii|»ly I, Ik; n;i,ni(! -lolin Sriiitli. 
J'oiiipcy'H Joliii Siiitli was hocii in l>n(;kI;ui(l,llain|)Hliii"<! (Jo., 
MjiHHurliiiHitllH, .Inly 'JOtli, I7H7, and (IkmI in l*oni|><'y, S*;)*- 
i(Mnl)(!r mUi, \HT-A, in i\n) HOth y«!ur of [lis a^n;. IIIh lather 
liuvin;^ licurd a ^ood n^port, of i]\f. counfrj in rcMitrul New 
York, r(!Holv(!(l IohcmkI liiHHon John on a t.oiir of inHj)0(;tion, 
thai, ho iiiighl, know from him what, advantat^OH thci n<!\v <'onn- 
try o(r(!r(!d. Af;(;<»rdin<^ly, thcrt; hcin^' no jmhlic convc^y- 
JUKM!, h(! cuim; all I ho way on horncjhack to romjMiy, Ihron^h 
tlio vvil(hin('HH, olt timcH having no companionH hnt Iho wihl 
<h!r;i/('ns <d" th(! loi-cHt. I Ia,vini^ (!X|)h)r(Ml th<; couidry tohis 
HaliHlaction, h<; rcitiirniid (o hi.s caHttirn honu; on fool, having' 
Hold ITiH horse. His I'cport I'lilly <-orrohorat<'d a,II thai, had 
l)(M!n h(!loi'() i-(!hit(!d of l*oni|)(!y'H h<ialthrnl olinK! and I'ortilo 
Hoih His fatlicr tli(!n rcsolvud to lind a home in th(! "wcH- 
tern woi'M," a,nd (taHecl lo his aid some; nei^hhoivs, who as- 
Hirtted him to ma,k(! a " Hh'(L" Soon I hey \v<U'e (tn t h(Mr- way, 
liiH (ath(;r with the ot,h(!i' m(!mh(!is ol" tlu! ramily, and Jic, 
with a "yoke ol" stai^H," and th<! "sh'd,"with tiuiir hoiiHO- 
hojd <4-oods. Tliei'e was a j;athei'in^- ol" neii^hhors, tiie larcs 
w(dls wei"e sj»oken, and th«!y WM-re oil". Searecsly lia,d they 
started wiutn thci HJecj hrok(! down. It was (|uiekly re|taii"(Ml 
ai;ain, kind wisjies w«M'e exehant;cd and very soon the "old 
lioinestead" wa,M lost to vi<!vv. TIk! route th(!j ])urHiied lay 
over the Iloosae inoniilains to VVilliainstown, wlnai t,h(!y 
i;ime upon halt; i^ronnd. Here they piirehas(Ml a earl, un- 
loaded and r((j)aeke.(l th(;ir L;'oods, and lell. IIm; " sKmI '' at the 
hot(d at VVilliumstown, wh(!r(!, lont^ yeai'H al'tca", tlu; Hul»j(M't ol" 
this nolie(; saw it in tli(!same yard wlier(! it was hd't. 

I'l'lore they L;-ot to Litehliehl IIk; a.\lelr(U! of tin; cart was 
hroken. At/^^ain the <^()ods were unloadiMJ, and whih; tin; rc;- 
pairin<^ was ^oin;^ on, some unridy swine iruuh; a raid upon 
their commissary department, and the ^ood thin<.;'s pre|»ared 
for their journey as was l,h(! eust,om in those dayn, were either 
eonsumtid or greatly diHarraiii^ed. When they earm; lo 
Jiitcldield, snow ai^ain ap|)eiir(Ml, and they were; ohlii^ed lo 




H 



OHN SMri'ii KSQ': 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 349 

change from wheels to runners. With such incidents as 
usually happen to persons traveling in a forest region, they 
continued to the end of their journey upon runners, and 
arrived in Pompey early in 1804, having been upon the 
road fifteen days. They moved into a log house about one 
mile northwest of Butler Hill, now Pompey Hill, on the 
road towards Syracuse, near where Baxter Knapp now re- 
sides. Mr. Smith was a resident of Pompey from that time 
up to the day of his death. He was twice married — first to 
Alcemena Anable, of Aurelius, Cayuga county, N. Y., by 
whom he had eight children, and secondly to Mrs, B^etsey 
Wright, by whom he had three children. He was a man of 
sterling integrity, and enjoyed in a large degree the confi- 
dence of his fellow citizens. He was elected and held the 
office of Justice of the Peace for fifteen years, and was ap- 
pointed Associate Judge of the Common Pleas, which posi- 
tion he held five years, when the courts were held in Onon- 
daga Valley, and about the time of the removal of the Court 
House to Syracuse. He was a member of the Board of Su- 
pervisors several years, and gave the casting vote to locate 
the " old Court House," between Syracuse and Salina. He 
held the offices of Associate Judge, Supervisor, Justice of 
the Peace, and was a member of the Court House building 
commission all at the same time ; and when the Court House 
was finished he resigned alibis official positions and devoted 
the remainder of his active life to the pursuit of agriculture. 
His father, Elisha Smith, Sr., was a revolutionary soldier, 
and was in the army of Gen. Gates, and at the capture of 
Burgoyne. His father-in-law, Edward Anable, was also a 
soldier of the revolution, and fought in the battle of Bun- 
ker Hill. He continued in the service till the close of the 
war, and was one of six men who attempted to blow up a 
British frigate in the Korth river, barely escaping with their 
lives. 

John Smith's children, eleven in number, were Ansel A., 
Calvin E., Isabella, Alcemena Holbrook, Angelina Ellis, 
Cleopatra Ellis, John Q., Andrew, Dexter, Hesley and Frank. 



350 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

The names of those living can be found in the directory 
near the close of this vohime. 



THOMAS D. SAFFORD 

Was born at Preston, Conn., and at the age of 18 years he 
came to Pompey, and worked at the carpenter and joiners 
trade for some time. In 1807 he purchased a farm of 80 
acres, only four of which was cleared. The same year he 
married Huldah Palmer, daughter of Rev^ JSTehemiah Pal- 
mer, of Brookfield. lie served in the war of 1812, having 
been drafted. Their children numbered twelve, two of whom 
died quite young. In September,'1832, the eldest son was 
taken with typhoid fever, and the whole family one after 
another, were taken down with the fever except the mother 
and one daughter. Three of the family, the husband and 
two daughters, died with the fever, and the family was afflict- 
ed from September till the last of February. Five years 
later, a daughter died with consumption. Seven children 
and the mother are yet living, and Mrs. Saflbrd attended 
the re-union of Pompey's children June 29, 1871. She was 
84 years old the 18th of March previous. The eldest son, 
Barnard C, married Laura A. Palmer, and they reside in 
Wayne, Erie Co., Pa. He is a farmer. Charles P. married 
Lorinda Bentl}', in Michigan. Warren D. married Irene 
Bogardus, of DeWitt, N. Y. They live near Janesville, 
Wis., and are both iarmers. 

One daughter, Harriet S., married Rev. Geo. M. Jenks, 
and resides at Centreville, Iowa. He is the pastor of the 
Congregational church at that place. Malinda A. married 
Chapin M. Holbrook, and resides in Pompey. He is a far- 
mer. Alonzo T. married Miss Lydia Peet, of Conn., is a far- 
mer. His mother and 3'oungest sister Sarah L., live with 
him a short distance west of Pompey Centre. 



JOSEPH SHATTUCK. 
Joseph Shattuck with nine sons, "grown up men," came 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 351 

to Pompey at an early day, and settled on the lot Conrad 
Bush had drawn. He bought his land of some person who 
had no legal title, and paid eleven]shillings per acre. Soon 
with the lielp of his sons he cleared sixty acres and put up a 
double log house, but was ejected from the land by Conrad 
Bush when he came to settle on his section. And he refused 
to remunerate Mr. Shattuck for the improvements made. 
He then bought and settled onwhatw^as known as the Mory 
farm from which he was also ejected. Feeling that there 
was no security in purchasing on the Military- tract, he with 
six of his sons, Sabina, Joseph, Alfred, Truman, Eli and 
another, left Pompey and went to the town of Cohocton, 
Genesee Co., on '-The Holland Purchase," and there the}' 
made a settlement. Tb.e misfortune of Mr. Shattuck was 
that of many others who purchased "Soldier claims." The 
government had so often failed to keep faith with the soldier, 
that they ceased to have faith in it, and believing the titles 
to lands which were promised at the time of enlistment, were 
likely never to be given, they would offer them for sale at a 
nominal price. Speculators bought these claims in great 
numbers. Often the soldier repeatedly sold his claim. After 
the war the lands having been surveyed, were drawn and 
awarded to the soldier, who having been honorably dis- 
charged from the service could present a valid claim. They 
found the previous sales and transfers were not binding, and 
in many instances sold again. Parties who bought these 
lands were subject to great annoyance and often loss. 

This fact for a time retarded the settlement of this portion 
of the State. The Legislature finally made a law establish- 
ing a commission called " The Onondaga Commission," 
whose duty it was to settle the conflicting interests of the 
claimants. After this work was accomplished, settlers feel- 
ing they could be secured in their purchases, and allured 
by the richness of the soil, healthy climate, and central loca- 
tion came on rapidly,and the "Military tract" was in a short 
time fully settled. 

Three of Mr. Shattuck's sons, Stephen, Chester and An- 



352 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

sel remained in Porapej, cleclarini^ " they were determined 
to fight it out." The last named of these hrothers, Ansel^ 
and others, Thomas Eldridge being one, settled upon the lot 
upon which Col. Henry Tiftany had located. Each buying 
of the Colonel a fourth of the section. They built and lo- 
cated each on a corner of the lot. The other two brothers 
located on farms south of Pompey Hill, where tliey lived 
long, exerting a salutary influence upon the society in which 
their lot was cast. Stephen lived to be 90 and Chester 70 
years of age. 

SWEETS. 

Mary Sweet, the widow of Isaac, came to Salem, Mass., 
in 1631, with her three children, John, James and Meribah. 
She removed to Rhode Island in 1636 ; had land granted to 
her in 1637. For a second husband she married Ezekiel 
Holliman, the first minister of the colony under Roger Wil- 
liams. 

John Sweet, son of the above, born in England, followed 
the fortunes of his mother. He settled about three and a 
half miles south-east of Greenwich village, on Warwick JS'eck. 
He built a mill on the Kingston side of the stream. In 1638 
he received land of Roger Williams, was a commissioner of 
Warwick in 1653, a Freeman in 1655, had permission to 
buy land of the Indians in 1663. In 1675 his mill was burnt 
by the Indians, and descendants of the family say the stones 
still remain, showing the site of the mill. His children were 
John, Daniel, James, Henry, Richard, Benjamin, William, 
Jeremiah and a daughter. His wife was named Eliza. 

James Sweet, son of Mary, born in England, settled in 
Warwick, near his brother. He was a commissioner of 
Warwick, in 1653, purchased laud of the Indians in 1662, 
was a commissioner from Providence in 1657, and was called 
General in 1658. He married Mary Green, the daughter 
of the 1st John Green. Their children were Phillip, James, 
Mary, Benoni, Valentine, Samuel, Jeremiah, Renewed and 
Sylvester. 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 353 

From some one of these seventeen Sweet families that ex- 
istedin 1690, the Sweets of Pompey claim to be descendants. 

Joseph Sweet, the son ot Henry and Mary, was born 
March 7, 1687. He married Rachel. His eldest son Henry, 
born Angust 9, 1710 ; and 2d son Timothy, May 27, 1713 ; he 
married Alice, the daughter of William and Thankful Sweet. 
She was born February 18, 1721. Her first husband was 
Thomas Mitchell, married i^Tovember 20, 1739; and chil- 
dren, George, Dorcas and Deborah ; married Timothy, about 
1750, children: Charles, Avho was killed in the Revolution, 
Timothy and Oliver. He removed to Virginia, on the forks 
of the Potomac, was killed by the Indians, when Alice re- 
turned to Rhode Island, with her two children, on horse- 
back, Oliver unborn, a nine day's journey in 1757. For her 
third husband, she married Sherwood, and had one son Seth,. 
who was an early settler in Wyoming county. She died in 
Pompey, May 6, 1814, aged 93 years three months. 

Timothy Sweet was born in East Greenwich, R. I., Oct. 
24, 1753. Of his early life we know nothing, but at the 
dawn of the revolution, he enlisted undei Col Seth War- 
ren, and was at the taking of Forts Ticonderoga and Crown 
Point. In the autumn of 1775, he was captured at " the- 
cedars,'"' in the expedition against St. Johns, C\anada, and 
was taken to Halifax, and afterwards to New York, and 
placed in the Sugar House Prison. Here he lay for yearSy 
and in the fear of death from the inhumanity of his keepers^ 
he enlisted into the Britisli army as a servant to Captain 
Miles. As soon as health and strength permitted, he escaped 
from Long Island to the Connecticut shore, but not darins^ 
to join the Continental army for fear of a recapture, he visi- 
ted Salisbury, Conn., wherein September, 1780, he married 
Eunice Woodworth. They emigrated to Saratoga, were with- 
in the sound of the great battle, and Eunice personally 
saw the surrender of Burgoyne. They emigrated to Pom- 
pey in 1794, reaching what is now the " Old Homestead, "^ 
on the 28th of January, where within eight days, Kneeland 
Sweet, was born. 

23 



354 THE POMPEY RE-UNIOX. 

Within three months after his arrival, lie was elected to 
the office of fence viewer, and at the next town meeting to 
the office of Commissioner of Iliiiliways. In this capacity 
he labored for many years, and assisted in laying- out most 
of the roads in the original to^Ynship. 

He soon became a prominent if not the leading farmer 
in the town, and one of the first in the county. In 1803, 
lie purchased of Dr. ISIordecai Hale, of New York city, two 
I'ows of Mr. Livingston's importation. These were of the 
best sliort-horned stock of that day ; one came to 
Pompev in calf, which proved to be a male ; Mr. 
S. paid $500 for the cow and calfj an emormous sum for 
that day. The other cow, equally good when she started, 
was injured on the passage, and she was sold for $60. She 
entirelv recovered, and from these three sprang the celebrat- 
ed " Sweet breed." The "dam" of the bull was red and 
he the same, the other was spotted. The bull was sold in 
1808 to Israel Chapin, of Canandaigua, for $350, where he 
founded the " Norton breed." 

The cows of this stock were remarkable milkers, Mr. 
■Geddes said in 1857, " there are persons now living who at- 
test that the mother of the Inill gave 40 cpiarts of milk in a 
dav." Mr- Sweet originally took up the 600 acre lot No. 
18 he also had No. 86 in Fabius, and 10 in Camillus, at the 
same time. No. 18 was about half sold, a fair sized farm giv- 
en to his eldest son, and the remainder retained under his 
own control till 1817, No. 86 Fabius, was sold, and No. 10 
Camillus was partitioned among his sons and sons-in-law. 
He afterwards purchased the most of Lot 17, a part of this 
was sold, and the remainder distributed among his sons and 
sons-in-law. From 1800 to 1817, he Avas the most promi- 
nent farmer in the country, tilling more land, and producing 
the most grain, cattle and horses and sheep. About this 
time he distributed his land among, his children, and retired 
from active life at 65, in full health and active faculties. 
The o-iving up of all activity and responsibility in worldly 
aftairs was a sudden start in the down-hill of life, which lie 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 355 

descended rapidly, and twenty years that might have been 
iisefally spent, was absolutely squandered, and the last few 
of them in mental darkness. He died March 7, 1837. 

His children were Adolphus, Aurel, who married John 
Sprague, Charles, James, Anson, Anna, who married Na- 
than Williams, Pamelia who married Jest 0. Finck, 
Ivneeland and Horace. 

Eunice Woodworth, daughter of Abuer Woodworth, and 
Ilannah Dyer, wife of Timothy Sweet, was born in Canaan, 
C'Onn., IS'ovember 22, 1762. Being deprived of educational 
advantages in her early years, she learned to read after her 
marriage, and acquired a decent education for those days. 
About 1800, at the earnest solicitation of Dr. White, of 
C'Ooperstown, she commenced the study and practice of 
obstetrics, he furnishing her books and instruction gratis. 
She was peculiarly adapted for the profession by nature, and 
made a most successful practitioner for about 45 years. In 
the sparsely settled country where she first commenced prac- 
tice, her " ride" Avas often extensive, but professional calls 
few, but in later times, her ride was not so distant, and the 
calls more numerous ; in the aggregate some hundreds. She 
was present also on hundreds of occasions, when not called 
professionally. She closed a long, honored and useful life, 
January 25, 1845. 

Adolphus Sweet, born in Milton, Saratoga Co., married 
Obedience Johnson, June 17, 1811. He was a farmer on 
tiie tarm next north of the old Homestead. He was crip- 
pled for many years, and died April 10, 1839. Obedience 
died in Michigan, January 11, 1862. 

Their children were Andalucia, who married Edgar A. 
Brown, widow, resides at Covington, Kentucky. Timothy, 
the only bachelor in the tribe resides at lihonersville, Cal. 
Henry, a farmer at Dover, Lenawe Co., Michigan. Harriet 
who married George A. Wright, died in Michigan, 1858, 
and George who is a farmer and resides at Dover, Lenawe 
Co., Michigan. 



356 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

Aurel Sweet, born in Milton, Saratoga County, married 
John Sprague, August, 1803, They resided on the farm 
now owned by Guilford C. Clapp, until 1834. Their chil- 
dren were Anna, who uiarried John Morley, resides in 
Cayuga Co. Belinda, who married Harry Weed, and re- 
sides at Forestport, Oneida Co. Mary, who married Hiram 
Wood, and Aurilla, who married Alonzo Wood, Clarissa, 
who married H. V. S. McMechan, widow, Trenton, N. J., 
and Charlotte, who married W. D. Stewart, jSTorthville, 
Minn. They removed to Fayetteville in 1834, where she 
died April 19, 1835. 

Charles Sweet, born in Milton, Saratoga county, married 
Theodosia Clapp, ^^ov. 12, 1805. He was a carpenter aud 
joiner and bridge builder. He removed in 1811 to the 
Holland Purchase, and built a saw and grist mill, he went 
to Greenupsburgh, ILy. , aoout 1820,and has never been heard 
of since. He left two children in Pompey, with his relatives, 
Charles, who removed to Chicago, in 1835, and Philura,who 
married the Hon. Alvin Raymond, of Racine, Wisconsin, 

James Sweet, born in Milton, Saratoga county, married 
Betsey Jerome, October 28, 1806, and a second wife Laura 
Clark, 1821. He was a cabinet maker, and specimens of 
his handicraft are in the houses of most of the relatives. 

In the war of 1812, he enlisted into the Navy, on board 
the Brig Argus, was in an engag^ement with a British ves- 
sel, took a prize, six boxes of gold. The firing of cannon 
made him deaf forever after. He returned from the war 
and went on to a farm, on Lot 10, Camillus, where he resid- 
ed till November 25, 1828, when he died. By his first wife 
he had one son, Jerome. 

Jerome Sweet, son of James, born in Pompey August 11, 
1806. On the enlistment of his father in the Navy, he went 
to reside wdth his uncle Anson, with whom he remained 
until he reached his majority. He married Joanna Dodge 
in 1827, and soon after went to reside on a part of the farm 
given his father, on Lot No. 10, Camillus. Here he remained 



^THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 85/ 

several years, and then removed to Ohio. In 1842 he re- 
moved to ISToble county, Indiana. The country was new, 
and from the first he took a leading position in all that per- 
tained to the welfare of the country. lie was a representa- 
tive man in the church, school, agriculture and politics. In 
1851 he was chosen to the Legislature of that State, and 
upon that body at that time devolved the labor of revis- 
ing the Statutory code, and a new and complete code of 
Jurisprudence. He discharged his duties to the entire sat- 
isfaction of his constituents. He died August 24, 1869. 

Anson Sweet, born in Saratoga county, Oct. 23, 1788, 
married Charlotte Seeley, January 18, 1810. He resided 
on the farm now owned by Ezra Casler, on Lot 17, until 
1834, when he removed to Fayetteville, then to the Old 
Homestead and finally to Manlius. 

As early as 1818, he practiced r.uder-draining on Lot 17, 
bringing into cultivation quite an extensive swale. The 
drains were dug very deep and stoned like a cellar drain in 
those days — a sound stone on each side, and a flat one on 
top clincked tight, and the drain filled above with nioist 
earth. These drains work well to this day. 

He was a successful fixrmor and laid up a competence, 
which he still enjoys. He resides with his only daughter 
in llochestor. 

Mrs. Sweet died at Manlius, February 18, 1861. His 
•children wore Charles, who for a time managed the old 
homestead, but removed to Wisconsin in 1850, and now re- 
sides at Granby, Missouri ; James B., who owned the old 
homestead for some years, removed to Manlius, then to 
Syracuse, back to Manlius, then to Fayetteville, Skaneateles, 
and finally to Syracuse ; his life was a checkered one, 
sometimes on a farm, sometimes in a public house, but al- 
ways cheerful to the last few months of his life, when he be- 
came deranged, and died Sept. 2, 1871; and Charlotte L., 
who married the Hon. George G. Munger, of Rochester, 
where she now resides surrounded by a happy family of 
girls. 



358 THE rOMPEY RE-UNION. 

Anna Sweet, born in Milton, Saratoga county, a twin 
with Anson, was married to Hon. Nathan Williams, March 
14, 1805. Her husband was a merchant and had a store on 
the Four Corners, north of the old homestead, opposite of 
Charles' Hotel. She died Aug. 22, 1807, leaving two 
children, Luna, who married John R. Wright, and Miphry, 
who died young. 

Pamelia Sweet, born in Saratoga Co., married Jost C. 
Finck, a lineal descendant of General Andrew Finck, of 
revolutionary fame, and of German origin, in 1808. He 
was the lawyer of the family; removed to Johnstow^n, Mont- 
gomery county, then back to Pompey, then on a farm 
which his father-in-law gave him in Camillus, on No. 10, 
where he remained till 1832, then to Cato, then to Weeds- 
port, then to Allegany county, where she died January 18, 
1839. Her children were Mariah, who married Asoph Kinne, 
Anna, who married Orlando Gait, Jacintha, who married 
Lewis P. Roode, Edmund A., Amelia, who married Rev. A. 
J. Crandall, Eliza, who married Rev. Walter Hare, Lucy, 
who married B. Brooks Joslin and ILilbert, Amelia 
resides at Cazenovia, all the remainder arc west. 

Kneeland Sweet was born in Pompey February 5, 1794, 
we think the oldest person born in town, at this writing. 

He received the best education attainable in that day, be- 
ing sent by his father to Johnstown Academy for the polish. 
In 1820 he came in possession ot the Old Homestead, about 
300 acres of land, and lieavily stocked with horses, sheep 
and cattle, and implements of every kind, the most com- 
plete in town. 

He married Julia Ann Kennedy, of Marcellus, in 1819 ; 
they removed to Manlius al)out 1833, and to Mason, Mich., 
1842, previous to the war he removed to Granby, Mo., 
where Mrs. Sweet died 1866. Their children w^ere Warren 
G., a farmer at Granby, Mo., Loren, a farmer and mer- 
chant at Mason, Mich., J. Frances, who married the Hon. 
James A. Chase and resides at Buffalo, William G., a 



THE POMPEY llE-UNION. 359 

farmer at Mason, Mich., Isal)cl, who iiiaried tlie lion. Jerome 
B. Fitzgerald, Edgar B. and Andalusia, who died young, 
and Frederick K, the youngest grand-child of Timothy, a 
Druggist at Lockport, X. Y. Kneeland resides with his 
daughter Isabel at Niles, Mich. 

Horace Sweet, born in Pompey April 1, 1796, was never 
calculated for anything but a farmer, it was his glory, his 
pride and the height of his ambition to be called a "good 
farmer," His earley education was on the farm, and that 
continually, it being thought worse than useless to expend 
time and money on any one who expected to be a farmer. 
He lived in the expectation of having the "Old Homestead" 
all his early life, and by diligence and industry fitted him- 
self for the responsible situation. In 1817 he married 
C'andace Avery, and for two years managed the farm. In 
1819 his father gave him a small farm where Hiram 
Clement now resides. In 1823 he remo^'ed to the farm two 
and one-half miles north of the Hill, where he added to his 
acres and his family in about equal proportion. 

His experiments in farnung were continual and always 
too extensive, for when a failure, the loss was too great 
He tried all sorts of grain and all kinds of implements. He 
pur«hased the second cast-iron plow in town, and used the 
first. He had the first threshing machine, the second horse- 
rake, the second mowing machine, the first drill, the first 
roller, the first sub-soil plow, one of the first of the Michi- 
gan sub-soil plows, and among the minor implements, was 
ever ready to try for a better one. 

In the cultivation of his farm he always desired to be in 
advance. He purchased stone for the front fence in 1834 
at quite a cost, and liad drains in every low place as early as 
1840. He always wanted to "plow deep" and in many of 
the fields every stone that the plow hit in the bottom of tlie 
furrow was taken out. Foul stufi'washis abomination, and 
many a day was spent in pulling charlick and daisies with 
corresponding backache. He always wanted to do things 
so much better than was absolutely necessary, that he 



■360 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

needed a fortune to back liim. As we said at the com- 
mencement his ambition was to be called a "good farmer." 
This distinction he achieved "if he did not make a cent." 

His back was injured by a fall about four years previous 
to hjs death, and he suffered long, but finally like a shook 
of corn cut by an early frost, he departed August 4, 1858 
aged 62. His children are Clarence H., mechanic, who re- 
sides at Knowlesville, Anson A., mechanic, Syracuse, 
Homer D. L., Genius of the "Claud Melnot school," resides 
at Syracuse, Wlieaton B., the only representative of the 
fifty grand-children of Timothy remaining in town, William 
A., mechanical engineer at S^^racuse, John E., Professor of 
Applied Mathematics at Cornell University, Helen L., who 
died 1842, and AnnaE., widow of Charles C, Bates, resides 
at Syracuse. 



JOHN TODD. 
John Todd was one of the early settlers of Pompey, and 
"^owned and occupied the farm now occupied by M. li. Dyer. 
He and his wife will be remembered as good, honest cliris- 
tian })eople — members of the Bapt'st church. Mrs. Todd 
was decidedly opposed to instrumental music in church, and 
when Mr. John Talbert assisted the choir with his hass viol, 
she left the church, for she said, "havingintroducedfidi'ling 
in church, the next thing would be dancing." 

Mr. Todd died about the year 1830, and Mrs. Todd lived 
several years thereafter — a member of theflimily of the late 
Pitt Dver. Thev left no children. 



SAMUEL TALBOT. 

Samuel Talbot, one of the early pioneers and settlers of 
the old township of Pompey, was born in the town of 
Stoughton, Mas.^., August 15,- 1778. Young Talbot when 
about twenty years of age, started with his wile, together 

with the families of Asa Drake, and Holmes to seek 

heir fortunes in (what was then considered) the far west, 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 361 

amidst the wilds and uncultivated re^^ions of "York State." 
Their means for transporting their families and household 
goods were very primitive and simple, yet their persever- 
ance and courage overcame the many perplexing annoy- 
ances they met with on their journey. Their course was 
pursued through the unbroken country and forests, fording 
streams and rivers, frequently being delayed in making 
rafts upon which the latter were crossed. Their furniture 
and provisions were drawn by two yokes of oxen, hitched 
to each sled. On arriving at the Hudson near the cit}' of 
Albany, they crossed upon the ice. Here it was found neces- 
sary to make a halt long enough to put new wooden shoes 
upon two of the sleds which had completely worn off; the 
third sled proved equal to the task, and did not receive any 
repairs until they arrived at Pompey. Talbot settled in 
the north-west part of the town, where he remained about 
ten years ; he then removed to Cleveland Mills, Steuben 
county. The house he occupied in that })lace caught lire and 
was consumed together with nearlv all its furniture. He 
then removed to the Cohocton River, one and a half miles 
from Liberty Corners, and purchased a farm ot 108 acres, 
exchanged that land with one Sexton, of Poultney, but the 
title of the property proving spurious, he lost ever^^thing he 
paid on it, and was left with only a few articles of household 
goods,besides a pair of young cattle, with which he removed 
back to Po iipey and worked the Grimes' farm upon shares 
for twoyc.irs. He then purchased a small farm of fifty 
acres, paying for it from a dowry his wife received from her 
father. The same farm is now occupied and owned by his 
only living daughter, Mrs. Morse. He died with small-pox 
in 1859, aged eight3'-one years : his wife also died from the 
same disease the same year, being one or two years his 
senior. 

Mr. Talbot was a descendant ot the Talbots of Strafford- 
shire, England, whose history, both civil and militarv, are 
well known to many historical readers of the present day. 
The first American Talbot was impressed upon a British 



362 TUE POxMPEY RE-UNION. 

man-of-war vessel, while bathing with other boj-s of about 
his own age on the English coast. His name was Peter, s:on 
of the Earl of Shrew^sburj. He escaped from the vessel in 
1662, and swam to the Rhode Island shore. From thence 
he proceeded to Stonghton,Mass. He left a son George,who 
left Peter, who was father of tlie subject of this sketch. 
Samuel, not unlike his progenitors, Avas six feet and five 
inches in height, large bony frame, muscular and was pos- 
sessed of an enduring constitution. There are many inci- 
dents told of his remarkable strength and endurance, among 
the number we will relate the following : Talbot had ac- 
quired considerable skill in the use of carpenter's tools, and 
in those days he was often called upon to assist the early 
settlers in building their cabins and houses. He had occa- 
sion to work at liouse building in Ohio, soon after the Erie 
canal was opened for business ; on his return from that State 
in the fall, he came from Buftalo in a boat, landing at Syra- 
cuse with his large tool chest which was left upon the bank 
of the canal, while he sought for some means to transport it 
to Pompey Hill. He could find no farmer or neighbor of 
his in town, and it being Saturday in the afternoon, he con- 
cluded to carry it upon his back, which he dia by the aid of 
straps and cords, arriving at his home about midnight. He 
did not remove the chest from his back until he arrived 
home, only stojDping occasionally and resting by leaning the 
chest upon a stump or by the side of a tree on the route 
through the forests. As a wood-chopper he had but few 
equals in this section of the State. An incident is frequent- 
ly told by residents of Pompey, who are now living and can 
vouch for the facts. 

Talbot's wife w'anted a pair of andirons or " fire dogs" for 
their huge fire place, which were already decorated with 
" cranes" and " hooks," but not complete without the arti- 
cles above mentioned. Young Talbot wdth his axe upon his 
shoulder started for ]Mickles' Furnace, which w^as located 
about two miles south of Syracuse, near the junction of the 
two roads leading from Onondaga Hill and Onondaga Hoi- 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 36S 

low ; he saw Mr. Mickles and made a bargain for the fire 
dogs, he (Talbot,) agreeing to chop and pile up seven and a 
half cords of maple wood for them. He returned home put 
his axe in excellent order, and on the following day a little 
after day-break he commenced his work felling the trees, 
chopping, splitting and piling up the wood ; about sunset 
Mr. Mickles went into the woods to see what progress Tal- 
bot was making, and found him cording up what he had 
chopped, which measured a little over seven cords. Mr. Mick- 
les was surprised to see the result of the day's work, and 
said to Talbot, " you need not chop any more I am satisfi^ed 
and you can come to the furnace and make your selection of 
"fire dogs," which he did, taking them, together with his axe, 
upon his shoulders and started for home. 

Mr. Talbot was a devoted member of the Disciples church, 
and a consistent temperance man, honest and square in all 
his dealings witli the world. He left a son (Alvin, since de- 
ceased,) and a daughter, (Mrs. Morse,) who is now living on 
the old homestead in Pompey, on the road leading to the 
Hollow and Jamesville. 



ELIJAH WELLS. 
Among the pioneers of the town of Pompey may be num- 
bered Elijah Wells, who was born in the town of Wethers- 
field, Hartford County, Conn., February 27, 1775 ; he was 
married January 1(3, 1800, to Lucy Sellew, of Glastonbury, 
of the same county; he came to Pompey in the fall of 1799, 
and purchased a forest farm of one-hundred acres, on Lot 
^0.51; after making his purchase, he returned east to 
spend the winter. In the spring of 1800, he returned to 
Pompey, and applied himself to clearing up his land. Dur- 
ing the summer he cleared ten acres and also built a log 
house for his future residence. In the fall he returned east 
and prepared to remove his family to what might be re- 
garded his wilderness home. In February, 1801, he left 
the home of his childhood for his chosen residence in the 
then far west. The journey was performed at this incle- 



364 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

ment season of the year in an open sleigh with the addi- 
tional responsibility of caring for an infant child of a little 
more than three months old. Deacon Asa H. Wells, who, 
till 1874, resided a half mile north of Pompey Hill, was that 
little child whose familiar voice in the choir of the Con- 
gregational Church at Pompey, for nearly a half century 
has been heard nearly every Sabbath, singing praises to the 
God who then preserved him. Thus they came into this 
western wild, bringing with them their effects to commence 
the battle of life. Often has the writer of this little sketch 
been thrilled in listening to the recital of the perils and 
trials of those pioneer days. Elijah "Wells and his wife 
were both for many years active members of the "First 
Congregational Church," in Pompey, and for many years 
he was one of the Deacons of the Church. Their children 
feel that they owe very much to them, and cherish their 
memory with feelings of veneration. Those earlj days in 
the histor_y of our fathers, were days of severe struggle and 
privation; and this was peculiarly so with the subject of this 
sketch. In order to dispose of the heavy timber of the 
dense forest, and get his^logging done — not having a team of 
his own, he was obliged to depend upon a neighbor who 
had an ox team, giving two days of his own labor, for the 
services of his neighbor with his team one day. In this way 
be accomplished the clearing of the first ten acres. In the 
fall of the same season, he sowed it to winter wheat, which 
gave him an abundant crop the following season. The 
nearest market to him at this time was Utica, fifty miles 
away, and in the winter of 1801 and 1802, he hired another 
neighbor, Artemus Bishop, who was always actuated by a 
high sense of honor and ready to accommodate as' are pion- 
eer settlers generally, and who had a horse team to carry 
his crop to market ; for it when delivered at Utica, he re_ 
ceived forty cents per bushel. From this he had to pay for 
the transportation to market. This was the manner of be- 
ginning to build up the town of Pompey, and from such 
small beginnings, they contributed by mortgaging their 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 365 

farms to build up Pompey Acadeiiij. From this, let the 
present generation learn a lesson and show a little public 
spirit by stopping the decline of that venerable institution, 
by contributing out of their abundance sufRcient to place it 
financially upon a firm basis. 

To them were born five sons and two daughters ; four of 
the sons are yet living ; one son and the daughters have 
passed away, Elijah Wells, the subject of this sketch, died 
in the fall of 1830. Lucy Wells, his companion, died in the 
fall of 1857. Of their family Asa H., the eldest son, now 
resides in Manlius, and George, the youngest, still remains 
in Pompey. John S., the second son who married Polly, a 
daughter of Moses Hinsdale, died at his residence near the 
old homestead in 1854. Russell, the third son, is a resident 
of Manlius village. Elijah, Jr., the fourth son, resides in 
Naples, Ontario County, ]Sr. Y.; he alone chose a mercantile 
life, while all the others have made agriculture their pur- 
suit for life. Of the daughters one died in infancy, the 
other at the age of twenty-five unmarried. The sons have 
all been married, and have long enjoyed the society of their 
respective families. 



EDWARD WICKS 
Was born at East Hampton, Long Island, in 1752, and died 
in the year 1834, aged 74 years. His father, Capt. Edward 
Wicks, was a sailor, and having charge of a schooner which 
sailed between Connecticut and the West Indies, took his 
son, the subject of this sketch, with him. He was thus 
taught the rudiments of a sea faring life, till he was about 
fourteen years old ; then he was bound to a tailor ; but be- 
ing ill used he ran away from his master, and in company 
with his younger brother, Capt. John Wicks, father of the 
late E. B. Wicks, of Syracuse, took charge of a vessel mak- 
ing voyages to the West Indies, until the war of the revo- 
lution. He was then obliged to return to his trade for sup- 
port, and worked in Providence, R. I., from house to house 
for fifty cents per day, taking pay in Continental money, of 



266 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

which he paid $210.00 for a pair of shoes; these, however, 
he said were a "good pair." He married Elizabeth Conk- 
hn, of East Hampton, daughter of Lineas Conklin, and 
aunt of Judge Conklin, formerly of Auburn, who was the 
lather of Hon. Roscoe Conklin, of Utica, and of Frederick 
Conklin, of New York. During the revolution, his father 
had moved to Guilford, Conn., with his family, and re- 
mained there till 1800, and then emigrated to Oneida Co., 
]Sr. Y., between Clinton and Paris Hill. In 1816 he came 
to Pompey, and bought of Mr. Handy the farm Avhich Barrs 
the Hessian, one of the thousand taken prisoner by Gen. 
Washington at Trenton, had settled. The farm was lately 
owned by Dea. Asa H. Wells, and now by David King. 
Here he remained till his death, which occurred in 1834. 
His wife died at the age of sixty-four years, in the year 1826, 
in Pompey. They left four children. Harriet, the eldest, 
married Augustus W. Chappell ; Marvin died in 1848 ; Isaac 
C. now lives at the age of seventy-five years, in Pompey Hill 
village; Eliza, who was six years younger than Isaac C, 
married John Clark, and settled in Brunswick, Medina Co., 
Ohio, and died in 1850. Mrs. Chappell died in 1829 in Pom- 
pey, of a malignant fever then prevailing, as did also her 
^on, Edward F. Chappell. She left surviving three other 
children — Helen, Sylvia and Byron. 



DANIEL WRIGHT. 

The subject of this sketch was born September 9tb, 1794, 
in Hebron, Conn., and from there emigrated to Pompey, ar- 
riving February 29, 1799, with his parents, who settled on 
Lot No. 16. His father died Nov. 13, 1805, and his mother 
March 13, 1806, the year of the great eclipse. Then young- 
Daniel went to live with his brother-in-law, and remained 
with him two years. He then commenced to work by the 
month and day for different persons, always strictly fulfill- 
ing his contracts, till 1812, when he bought a farm and pai<l 
for it with the money that years of toil had secured. But 
the title to his land failed and he lost it. Again he went to 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. S()7 

work bj the month and day, and when over thirty years of 
age he married Miss Eva llelmer, of Manlias, April 21st, 
1826. Their children were ten in number, and were raised 
to become men and women. To support his large family 
he continued to work by the month and by the day. His 
wife died July 17th, 1866, since which time he has lived with 
his sons. The 18th of February, 1869, his leg was broken 
by a fall and the broken limb was cared for by Dr. Knapp, 
of Jamesville, under whoso skillful treatment aided by the 
strong vitality ot his patient, he was enabled to be about in 
a short time. At the age of 78 years he could chop and 
pile two cords of wood in a day, and although the vigor of 
his younger days is departing, he can walk ten miles in 
a day. His life spent among the fiirmers of Pompey, has 
demonstrated that though poor a man may be honest. But 
his life's labor is nearly done, and he is now only waiting 
to join the pioneers of Pompey, who have gone before him 
over the river. In conversation he shows that though 
young when he came to Pompey, he well remembers the 
scenes and hardships of pioneer life. He remembers of 
families suffering for the want of food, and so reduced as to 
eat beach leaves. In a mortar they pounded their corn 
and baked their corn cakes in the ashes, rolling them up 
in cabbage leaves and covering them up with couls. But 
they thanked God and were contented, looking for a better 
dav. 



AUGUSTUS WHEATON. 

Augustus Wheaton was born in the year 1775, at New 
Milford, Conn., and died at the age of seventy-seven years, 
and was buried within a mile of the place of his birth. Four 
brothers emigrated from Scotland and settled in Connecticut. 
Their names were Esuek, Orange, Sylvester and Joseph 
Wheaton, the last named being the father of Augustus, who 
came to Pompey in 1810. He had purchased land in Pom- 
pey in 1807, but did not move his family till 1810. Three 
sisters, Lydia, Sylvia and Loraine had preceded him. All 



368 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

of them were married and were older thau Augustus, who 
was an only son. 

Lydia married Jasper Bennet, of Connecticut, and settled 
in 1806, on the farm now owned by James VanBrocklin, 
about a half a mile north-westerly from Pompey Hill. They 
had one son Malcomb and four daughters — Orphia, Oladine, 
Lurianne and Jane, of whom Oladine married Ozias AVright, 
late of Pompey. Sylvia married James Chappell, of Mass., 
and settled on the farm now owned by Geo. Kenyon, in 1808. 
Their children were Lydia Ann, Augustus W, and Frank- 
lin. Augustus AV. inherited his father's farm. Franklin was 
first a teacher and subsequently a lawyer. He went to Ken- 
tucky and married a daughter of Gov. Metcalf. Augustus 
W. married Harriet Wicks, and lived most of his life upon 
the farm inherited from his father. Their children were 
Helen, Sylvia and Byron, the former of whom married Hen- 
ry Baker, son of Dea. Samuel Baker, late of Pompey. She 
died and Henry Baker now liv^es on his father's farm with 
his second wife. Sylvia Ghappell married Dr. John Clark, 
of Brunswick, Ohio; Byron married Delia Bowles, and they 
reside in Jasper Co., Indiana. Loraine Wheaton married 
Joseph M. Bostwick, and came to Pompe\' about 1806, and 
settled on the farm now occupied by Watson Watkins. She 
died in 1829 and left four children, Kancy, Laura, Whea- 
ton and Bennet. l^aney married Myron Wheaton, of Conn. 
Laura married Albro Leach, Wheaton Bostwick married a 
Miss Bennet, of Conn., and now resides in DeWitt, Onon- 
daga Co., IS^. Y. Bennet moved west, married and still re- 
sides west. 

Augustus Wheaton married Hannah Givens, of Conn. 
Their children were Orlin J. and Flora, both born in Con- 
necticut, and Julia, Horace, Homer, Louisa, and Charles A., 
all of the latter born in Dutchess Co., K. Y., to where Au- 
gustus moved after the birth of the first two children. Af- 
ter mo ring to Pompey, four more children were born unto 
them, whose names were Sheldon, Elvira, Caroline and 
Harriet. 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 369 

Augustus purchased a farm of 410 acres and lived on the 
east side of the road south of where A, C. Sloan now re- 
sides, from 1810 to about 1823, While in Pompey, he en- 
gaged in the pursuit of agriculture and droving, and about 
the latter date, he disposed of his farm and moved to Syra- 
cuse, and became inspector of salt. Alter a residence in 
Syracuse offive years, he returned to Pompey, and remained 
till about the year 1833, when he returned to the place of 
his birth, and died about the year 1852, and as before rela- 
ted, was buried within a mile of his birtli place. His wife 
died in 1825, and her remains repose in the cemetery at 
Pompey Hill. Mr. Wheaton was a man of energy and 
public spirit, always interested to advance and better the 
condition of his town. He was a leading man in building 
the first Congregational church in Pompey. 

Orlin J. Weaton, the eldest son of Augustus, married 
Sophronia Stone, of Kew Milford, Conn., in 1821. They 
have reared a large family, all of whom were born in Pom- 
pey. These are Lucinda, wife of O. C. Pratt, of Pompey. 
Leman S., who died at the age of six years ; Daniel G., who 
married Mary, second daughter of David F. Dodge, late of 
Pempey, Delia, wife of the late Geo. B. Senter, of Cleve- 
land, Ohio, Ellen M. wife of II. B. Dodge, of Skaneateles, 
]Sr. Y. Flora, wife of John C. Grannis, a lawyer of Cleve- 
land, Ohio ; Francis, wife of Dr. O. G. Dibble, of Pompev, 
and Garret S., of Cleveland, Ohio. Mr. Orlin J. Wheaton 
has led a very active life. He has mostly beeii engao-ed in 
agricultural pursuits, but for many years was a drover, and 
as such has traveled over very much of the western coun- 
try, and especially Ohio. 

. Flora Wheaton, the second child of Augustus, married 
Moses Seymour Marsh, who came to Pompey, in 1816. Mr. 
Marsh was a clerk lor his uncle, Henry Seymour, the father 
of Gov. Seymour, and he subsequently owned the store 
which he purchased of his uncle, and Horace Wheaton be- 
came his clerk, and in turn became the purchaser of the 
store, which he continued to occupy till 1846 or 1847. 

24 



o70 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

Seymour Marsh built the stone store now owned and oc- 
cupied by Capt. John J. Taylor, upon the site of the old 
Henry Seymour store. The children of Seymour and Flora 
Marsh, were Henry S. Marsh, now of jSTew York, Clarissa, 
wife of E. S. Dawson, Treasurer of Onondago Co. Savings 
Bank, of Syracuse; Richard Marsh, of J^ewYork; Flora 
Marsh and Charles Marsh, of Cleveland, Ohio; and George 
Marsh, of Kew York. 

Julia Wheaton, the third child of Augustus, married 
Richard Cuyler, of Aurora, X. Y., who went into business 
at A^ienna, K". Y., and there died. Their children were 
Mary, wife of Hon. R. H. Duell, of Cortland, IST. Y. Louisa 
wife of Giles Lawrence, of Philadelphia, Pa. Jane, wife of 
Hon. Chas. Foster, of Cortland, N. Y, Julia and Glenn, 
the latter being a resident of New York, and engaged in the 
insurance business. Mrs. Cuyler, now Mrs. Lawrence, is 
again married and resides in Cortlaud, N. Y. 

Horace Wheaton married Helen Webb, of Syracuse, a 
daughter of James Webb, who had been County Judge and 
member of the State Legislature. Their children are James, 
Helen, Edward and George. Helen is married to Mr. 
Turner, a merchant of CUiicago ; Edward resides in New 
York ; George is a traveling agent. Mr. Wheaton has 
been a leading democrat and represented the town of Pom- 
pey for a number of terms in the Board of Supervisors; was 
for two terms a representative in Congress, having been 
lirst elected in the fall of 1842. As before stated he purch- 
ased the store at Pompey Hill, of Moses S. Marsh, and there 
continued the mercantile business till about 1846, when he 
removed to Syracuse, and there he has since resided. For 
a time since his residence in Syracuse, he engaged with his 
l)rother Chas. A., in the hardware trade. More recently, 
he has been a Justice of the Peace, which office he now 
holds. 

Homer Wheaton is a graduate of Hamilton College. In 
1826 and 7 he studied law with the late Victory Birdseye, 



THE POxMPEY RE-UNION. 371 

and afterwards with Judge N^ehemiah H. Earll; was admit- 
ted to practice and opened an office in Syracuse witli Henry 
Davis, Jr., son of Dr. H. Davis, president of Hamilton Col- 
lege. Subsequently pursuing the practice of law, but a 
short time he became an Episcopal clergyman, which voca- 
tion he followed man}- years. He is now extensively en- 
gaged in agricultural pursuits, and devoted to the produc- 
tion of fine stock. He married Louisa, daughter of Judge 
Isaac Smith, of Dutchess County. Judge Charles Wheaton 
of Poughkeepsie, is his son. 

Louisa Wheaton, married John Flemming, late of Man- 
lius, IST. Y. He was a lawyer, Surrogate of Onondaga 
County, Lidian agent and Master in Chancery. Their 
children were John, Louisa and Marj-, who are dead, and 
Elizabeth who is married and resides in Tennessee, and 
Flora who resides in Washington, D. C. 

Charles A. Wheaton married Ellen Birdseye, daughter of 
Hon. Victory Birdseye, late of Pompey. They had twelve 
children, as follows : Cornelia, wife of Frederick Ayer, of 
Lowell, Mass., Ellon L. wife of Dr. A. K. Morgan, late of 
Syracuse, now of Astoria, Long Island ; Edward of SauFran- 
cisco, Cal., in the Express and Banking business of Wells, 
Fargo k Co. Homer, who is dead. Emma C., principal of 
the St. Paul, Minn., Young Ladies' Seminary. Clara who is 
in San Francisco, Cal., teaching. Florence B. Wheaton, 
Lucia C, a teacher at St. Paul. Henry B. Wheaton, a stu- 
dent at law, Boston, Mass. Mary H., wife of Mr. Kittridge, 
a lawyer of Boston, Mass. Charles A., now of Harvard Uni- 
versity, and Mabel F. who is at her fathers, Northiield,Minn. 

Mr. Wheaton married a second time, his iirst wife having 
died Dec. 1858. His second wife was a Mrs. Wagoner, 
whose maiden name was Archibald. By her he has five 
children, all living at home with their parents. Mr. Whea- 
ton, while a resident of Syracuse, w^as a successful merchant 
at first in the dry goods and subsequently in the hardware 
trade. Several years ago, he went south and engaged in 



372 THE rOMPEY RE-UNION. 

tlie construction of a railroad. In this enterprise he was 
unfortunate. Subsequently he went to Minnesota, where he 
now resides. lie has held many positions of public trust, 
and is now editor of the Rice County Journal. 

Sheldon Wheaton, the first child of Augustus, born in 
Pompey, died from being scalded, at the age of two years. 

Elvira Wheaton, married, being the second wife of John 
Flemming, by whom she had two children, Caroline and 
William. Caroline is the wife of John A. Baker, of Seneca 
Falls, William is in the express business at Coxsackie, 
K Y. 

Caroline Wheaton, married a Air. Clark, of Montezuma, 
who is now dead. She resides in Xew York, and has two 
children, James and C^aroline Clark; James is a merchant in 
jN^ew York, and Caroline is with her mother, 

Harriet Wheaton, married Geo. B. Walter, late of Syra- 
cuse, but now residing at Astoria, Long Island. He is a 
lawyer, doing business in iSTew York. They have three boys 
one of whom is at the Cornell University. 



TABOR D. Wn.LIAMS. 

Mr. Williams was not among the Pioneer settlers of 
Pompey, having emigrated to Pompey in 1831. His family 
consisted of his wife, whose maiden name was Miss Lydia 
Goodrich, formerlj^ of Lenox, Berkshire Co., Mass., and his 
two sons George H., and Charles T. AYilliams, aged respec- 
tively nine and six years. Mr. Williams was a shoemaker, 
and followed that occupation for several years, after he came 
to Pompey. His eldest son George II. AVilliams, entered 
Pompey Academy at the age of 14 years, and remained 
there four years under the tuition, of the late Samuel S. 
Stebbins, an accomplished teacher, scholar and gentleman. 
At the close of his academic course, he entered the law 
office of the late Hon. Daniel Gott, of Pompey. Three 
years thereafter and in the year 1844, he was admitted to 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 373 

the ])ar at Syracuse; in September of the same year, he 
went to Iowa and entered the office of Hon. I). F. Miller, at 
Fort Madison; in 1846 he was elected to the convention 
which framed the constitution of Iowa, serving on the com- 
EQittee which reported that instrument. On the admission 
of the State into the Union, he was elected Chief Justice of 
tne Supreme Court; in 1852 he was elected presidential 
elector, on the democratic ticket and cast his vote for Pierce, 
carrying the vote of the State to Washington as messenger 
of the Electoral College. On his way home he received in- 
telligence, of his appointment to the Chief Justiceship of 
Oregon Territory, by the new President. In 1857 he was 
re-appointed to ttiis ofHce, hy Presiilont Buchanan; he w^as 
also elected delegate to the convention, which framed the 
constitution of Oregon, two years thereafter, he resigned the 
Judgeship and resumed, the practice of law at Portland. In 
1864 he was elected United States Senator, from Oregon 
and served the full term. At the expiration of his Senato- 
rial term, he was appointed by President Grant, to serve as 
a member of the Joint Iligli C/ommission, which convened 
at Washington for the settlement of the Alabama Claims, 
his last appointment, recently received from President 
Grant, being to till the office of Attorney General of the 
United States. In 1850 he was married to the daughter, of 
General V. P. A^an Antwerp, of Keokuk, Iowa, who died in 
1863, and he contracted a second matrimonial alliance, with 
Mrs. Kate George, of Oregon in 1867. Mr. AVilliams second 
son Charles F., is by occupation a harness-maker and resides 
at Iloneoye, Monroe Co., IT. Y. Mr Tabor J). Williams and 
his wife, are still living in Pompey and are very proud, of 
the high position their son George has attained 



THE FARGO FAMILY. 

WiLi.iAM C. Far(;o. 
The biograph}- of no family identified with the history of 
old Pompey more clearly illustrates the advantages of a re- 
publican form of government, than that of William C. Far- 



374 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

go. His father, whose surname was also William, was a 
descendant of Moses Fargo (or Firgo as it was often written), 
who emigrated from England to Connecticut, about the year 
1670, and settled in Kew London. The history of New 
London by Frances Manwaring Caulkins, published in 1852, 
has the following statement : " With other new inhabitants 
that appear between the years 1670 and 1700, and to whom 
house lots were granted is Moses Fargo in the year 1680. 
He had nine children of whom the five youngest were sons, 
Moses, Ralph, Robert, Thomas and Aaron." 

The histories of IsTew London and l^orwich contain fre- 
quent reference to members of this family in connection with 
the annals of the revolutionary war. William C, at the age 
of seventeen, was among the first to enlist, and he served 
faithfully during the whole of the memorable struggle for 
independence. At the close of the war he engaged in com- 
mercial pursuits, his principal business being the shipping 
of cattle and horses to the West Indies. For a time this en- 
terprise proved successful ; but the loss of two ships during 
a stormy voyage brought a reverse from which he never re- 
covered financially. He died about the year 1800, leaving 
a widow and several children, one of whom was William 
C. Fargo, who was born in Kew London, Connecticut, 
March 20th, 1701. Left thus early without inheritance, he 
was thrown upon his own resources. In those days, as now, 
fortune was to be sought in the west, and having learned 
the trade of a distiller, on the 2od of January, 1807, he lett 
Connecticut with his uncle John Ames, emigrated to Ply- 
mouth, C^henango County, 1^. Y., where he worked as a la- 
borer, until the November following, when he moved to 
Jamesville, Onondaga county, N. Y., and found employ- 
ment in the distillery of Benjamin Sandford. 

He remained in this position until the latter part of the 
summer of 1809, when he made his first visit to his uncle 
Chappell, who married his father's sister and resided in Pom- 
pey. His visit over, he continued his westward journey, 
and in September commenced work in Ontario Co., about 



I 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 3v5 

seven miles north of Geneva, for a Mr. Smith, llis term of 
service expiring the following April, he resumed his west- 
ward route, working by the day or week as he traveled, and 
reached Buffalo in September. It was his intention to find 
employment in a distillery at Eleven Mile Creek: but Buf- 
falo offered what he regarded a more lucrative position, 
and he engaged as a bar-tender for Robert Cook. Buffalo 
was not a populous city at that time, but it gave him em- 
ployment until May, 1812, when he was drafted in company 
with James Ellis, William Adams and John Coon, as a 
soldier in the United States army in the pending war with 
Great Britain. John O'C^onnor, of New York, was then 
recruiting in Buffalo, and preferring to be voluntary rath- 
er than drafted soldiers, Mr. Fargo and his three associates 
enlisted for the war in the third regiment of heavy artillery, 
under command of Col. Alexander Mscomb, who was after- 
wards promoted to the rank of General, when the command 
of the regiment devolved on Col. George E. Mitchell; 

The recruits were first ordered to Canandaigua, but the 
4th day of July, 1812, found them at Fort Niagara. On or 
about the first of October, fifty picked men of whom Mr. 
Fargo Avas one, were detailed to open 'communication with 
the Canadian side of the river, so that the troops could be 
safely crossed over. It was a hazardous undertaking at the 
best, and as the enemy was informed of the enterprise by 
sympathizing rebels on this side, the fifty wore compelled 
to return. On the 12th of October, the attempt was renewed, 
only fifty soldiers at first embarking. One boat load was 
carried down by the current and taken prisoners. On the 
morning of the 13th, under cover of the darkness that then 
prevailed, the rest of the fifty were able to land, the boats 
returned, and as soon as possible the militia under Gen. A'^an 
Rensselaer, were conducted to Canadian soil. About sun- 
rise, Mr. Fargo was one of the number who Ibrced their 
way up the steep acclivity and captured the enemy's battery 
on the heights which by this time was being actively used 
ao;ainst the Americans who were crossing the river. A se- 



B76 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

cond engagement occurred about eleven o'clock, during 
which the British General Brock was killed. Mr. Fargo 
was wounded in his right thigh, just before the Americans 
"won possession of the ground. When reinforcements 
arrived from Fort George, Mr. Fargo, with other wounded 
Americans, was brought back to the American side, and 
placed in a barn with a Mr. Bennett, the log-house hospital 
being full. They remained here all night before their 
wounds could be dressed. Mr. Fargo's wound was very 
painful, and his leg so much swollen that a council of physi- 
cians decided that the limb must be amputated. Dr. Brown 
of Cherry Valley, I^. Y., obtained permission to make an 
eftbrt to save the limb, and resorted to a poultice of beach- 
leaves and new milk boiled together. Xo material improve- 
ment was manifested at the expiration of the tirst twenty- 
four hours ; but on the day following the beneficial influence 
of the treatment was apparent, and Dr. Brown was permit- 
ted to take charge of the patient until the following April, 
when Mr. Fargo was removed to Fort Niagara. His wound, 
however, did not heal until June, On his recovery, Mr. 
Fargo had charge of the artillery in what was known as 
the Block House. From this station in August, ISl^J, he 
kept up an incessant tiring on Fort George, for four days. 
Soon after this, orders were received for the discharge of in- 
valid soldiers, and Col. Mitchell gave Mr. Fargo his choice, 
to be discharged, or accept an unlimited furlough and en- 
gage in recruiting and apprehending deserters. Tie chose 
the latter and was so engaged until the close of the war. It 
was while recruiting that in February, 1814, he again visit- 
ed Pompey, and from there went to Albany wliere he re- 
ceived orders to enlist no more soldiers. lie immediately 
repaired to Sackett's Harbor, and Mas placed in charge of 
the Ordnance Department. In 1815, after peace was estab- 
lished, still continuing in the army service, he went to the 
Island of Mackinaw with Capt. Benjamin Pierce, who died 
about 1871. Here he was sergeant-major of the garrison, 
under command of Col. John Mcll^eal. In 1816, orders 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 377 

came to construct a fort at Green Bay, at the mouth of Little 
Fox River. This work was designed for the protection of 
explorers and others against the Indians who were then very 
hostile. Mr. Fargo was detailed with twenty picked men 
to protect the workmen who were building the fort. Hav- 
ing accomplished the purpose of the expedition, he returned 
to Mackinaw in July, 1816, and remained there until the 
expiration of his term of service, on the 7th of May, 1817. 

No longer a soldier, he commenced his journey to Pom- 
pey. To Detroit he came by water, and thence on foot. To 
Xorwalk, Ohio, he had the company of James Gates. From 
there twenty-one miles towards Cleveland, there was no hu- 
man habitation,and Cleveland, then, could boast of only two 
families and two houses, one of them a public one. From 
Cleveland his fellow-footman was a Mr. Fellows, and togeth- 
er they trudged on to Pompey, where they arrived in June, 
1817. Mr. Fargo made a visit to his uncle Ames in Che- 
nango County, shortly after, and returned in July. On the 
10th of August, 1817, he was married to Tacy Strong, who 
was born September 14, 1790, in Hebron, Conn. They re- 
mained in Pompey until 1819, when they went to James- 
ville, and for the tirst time commenced house-keeping. At 
the expiration of a year, they returned to Pompey, where 
they resided, in and near the village of Watervale, until tlie 
spring of 1848. 

All their children were born in Pompey, and Dr. Jehial 
Stearns who now, at the age of eighty-four years, resides at 
Pompey Hill, attended at the birth of each of them. The 
following are the names and dates ot the birth of their chil- 
dren : 

William G. Fargo May 20th, 1818. 

Jerome F. Fargo February Gth, 1820. 

Rufus Fargo December *i6th, 1821. 

Chancellor L. Fargo January 12th, 1824. 

Sarah Ann Fargo^ J March 24th, 1826. 

Maryette Fargo December 18th, 1827. 

James C. Fai^o ._ May 5th, 1829. 



378 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

Charles Fargo . April lotli, 1831. 

Thomas B. Fargo L May 7th, 1833. 

Emeline Fargo May 17th, 1836. 

Willett H. Fargo February 15th, 1840. 

Mortimer H. Fargo September 27th, 1S4-1. 

While ill Pompey, Mr. Fargo was engaged in distilling 
and farming. When the oflice of constable was held in 
higher public estimation than at present, he held the postion 
for six years. From Pompey, he removed to Cicero Corners 
and bought nine acres of land of John A^an Bramer. Here 
lie resided from April 1, 1848, until ISlovember, and then re- 
moved to Manlius near what is known as the High Bridge, 
and lived there for fifteen years, when he consented with 
his wife to accept the gift from his children of a substantial 
and comfortable home in the city of Syracuse where he has 
resided for the past ten years, surrounded with all the ac- 
cessories of a life of ease and repose. His wife died iS^ovem- 
ber 9th, 1870, and was buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery, 
at Buffalo, in the lot of W. G. Fargo. Her resting- 
place is marked by a beautiful monument inscribed 
"Mother." Mr. Fargo was accpiainted with many of the 
pioneers of Pompey and his retentive memory of incidents 
and his correct and clear narrative of facts, which came un- 
der his obsevation, renders it very interesting to spend an 
hour or a day with the veteran. At one time he knew per- 
sonally every resident from Marcellus to the east boundary 
of Onondaga county, and can still name many of them from 
memory. He still retains much of the vivacity and humor 
of his earlier years, and preserves the quiet and unobtrusive 
manner which always characterized him and which always 
won him friends. 

William *G. Fargo, the eldest son of William C. Fargo, 
as may be inferred from the statements above, commenced 
life financially at the bottom of the ladder, and he com- 
menced it practically at a very early period. His childhood 
was that of the son of a labgring-man, who was struggling 
under adverse circumstances to make his expenses meet his 



THE POMPEY KE-UNION. 379 

income. lie had the advantages of the country school in 
the winter months, and made ordinary proficiency in the 
elemental English branches. He learned to reacl, write and 
cipher, and, at the age of thirteen, was employed by Daniel 
Butts, farmer and mail contractor, to carry the mail on horse- 
back, twice a week from Pompey Hill by way of Watervale, 
Manlius, Oran, Delphi, Fabius and Apulia, back to Pom- 
pey Hill, a circuit of about forty miles. This Post-office 
business compelled him to promptness and persistence. The 
circuit must be rode and the mail delivered in all weathers, 
and under all circumstances, and in this service he was 
grounded in the idea that w^hen a contract is made it must 
be performed to the letter. 

From this time until 1835, he worked as opportunity of- 
fered for different persons ; but for the most part, for Mr. 
Ira Curtis, of Watervale, who kept a country tavern and a 
store. In this employment he learned something of the 
routine of business, and refreshed his arithmetic in the way 
of keeping accounts. He was permitted to attend the dis- 
trict school occasionally during the winter months. But 
young Fargo's ambition Avas not to be restrained in these 
narrow limits, and his father encouraged him in enlarging 
his sphere of action. In the winter of 1835, he made an en- 
gagement with ^lessrs. Hough & Gilbert, grocers, of Syra- 
cuse, Avhich was continued for about one year, when he ob- 
tained a better situation with Messrs. Roswell and Willett 
llinman, grocery merchants, with whom he remained three 
years, perfecting himself constantly in business habits. 

jS'ext, we find him a clerk in the forwarding house of 
Messrs. Durnford & Co., of Syracuse, where he remained 
about a year. He was steadily climbing the financial ladder, 
and beo;an to think of embarking in business on his own ac- 
count. In January, 1840, he married Miss Anna H. Wil- 
liams, daughter of Nathan Williama, one of the pioneers of 
Pompey. Eight children have been born to them, only two of 
whom — Georgiana and Helen — are living. Gcorgiana in 



380 THE POMPEY RE-UNTON. 

1866 married Mr. Charles W. M'Cuiie, who is now a resi- 
<leiit of Buffalo. 

Soon after his marriage, Mr. Fargo removed to Weeds- 
port, and, in company with his brother Jerome, started a 
grocery and provision store and a bakery. The business 
did not prove successful, and at the end of the first year the 
balance was on the wrong side of the ledger. 

In 1841, Mr. Fargo removed to Auburn, to accept the 
freight agency of the Auburn and Syracuse Raih-oad Com- 
pany, then just completed, and in 1842, he resigned this po- 
sition to accept that of messenger for Pomroy & Co., who had 
established an express line between Albany and Buffalo. 
At this time, the rails v;ere laid to Batavia, and express 
packages were carried by stage from Batavia to Buft'alo, un- 
til the com})letion of the Buffalo and Attica Railroad. Af- 
ter a year's experience as a messenger, Mr. Fargo was ap- 
pointed agent for the company at Buffalo, to which city he 
removed in November, 1843. The Express business was in 
its infancy then, but Mr. Fargo recognized in it the ele- 
ments of indefinite growth and expansion. In January, 
1844, in company with Mr. Henry Wells and Mr. Daniel 
Dumiing, he organized an Express Line from Buffalo to De- 
troit, by way of Cleveland, under the firm name ot Wells 
& C'O. The capital tliese partners possessed, was principally 
industry, energy and determination. The one who was able 
to borrow §200 on a short note was regarded by tlie firm as a 
financial success. At this time, the only railroads west of 
Buffido was the one in Ohio, from Sandusky City to Mon- 
roeville, and the one in Michigan from Detroit to Ypsihmti. 
These expressmen employed the steamers on the lakes in 
the season of navigation, and stages and express wagons in 
winter. They did not do a very iieavy business, but it was 
a growing one, and they pushed it forward as rapidly as 
practicable. They extended the line to Chicago, Milwaukee, 
(Cincinnati and St. Louis and westward to Galena. 

After a year's experience, Mr. Dunning withdrew from 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 381 

tlie partnership, and, in 1846, Mr. Henry Wells sold liis in- 
terest to Mr. William A. Livingston, and the firm name was 
changed to Livingston & Fargo. About this time, Mr. 
Wells removed to New York, Mr. Livingston came to Buf- 
falo, and Mr. Fargo was located in Detroit, where he re- 
mained about one year, returning to Butialo in 1848, when 
Mr. Livingston took up his residence in Cincinnati. 

The express business west of Buffalo was managed in 
this way until March, 1850, when the American Express 
Company was organized, consolidating the interests of 
Johnston Livingston and Henry Wells and the firm of 
Livingston, Wells & Co., proprietors of the line between 
]S[ew York and Buffalo; those of Butterfield, Wasson & Co., 
proprietors of a rival line between these cities, and those of 
Livingston & Fargo, who owned the lines west of Buffalo. 
Henry Wells was the first president, and AYilliam G. Fargo 
the first secretary; these positions were held by these gentle- 
men respectively, until the consolidation with the Merchants' 
Union Express Company, in December 1868, when Mr. 
Fargo was elected the president and remains such. This 
company has a capital of .$18,000,000; maintains two thou- 
sand and seven hundred offices and gives employment to 
more than five thousand men, of whom six hundred are 
messengers. 

At the time the western lines were establislied, the whole 
number of offices, between jSTew York and the most remote 
western station, did not exceed thirty, and the number of 
men employed, from seventy-five to one hundred. This 
simple statement illustrates the growth of the express busi- 
ness, and is of itself proof of the energy, executive ability 
and the perfect system of the gentlemen who have made it 
the magnificent success it is. 

In 1851, Mr. Fargo, Henry Wells and their associates or- 
ganized a company, under the firm name of Wells, Fargo 
& Co., and commenced to do an express business, between 
New York and San Francisco by way of the Isthmus, and 



382 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

to operate interior lines on the Pacific coasst. This enter- 
prise proved successful, and was continned over this route 
until the completion of the Union and C'Cntral Pacific rail- 
roads, when the water was abandoned for the rail, and the 
management of the company transferred to San Francisco. 
While the control was in jSTew York, Mr. Fargo was direc- 
tor and vice-president, and he still continues a director. 
This company has a capital, of |5, 000, 000. and is doing n 
lucrative and constantly increasing business. 

In 1857, the several express companies in the United 
States, were requested by the government to make proposals 
for the transportation of the mail overland from St. Louis, 
by way of what was known as the Southern route, through 
El Paso, Texas, Fort Yuma and San Diego, to San Fran- 
cisco. A contract having been made, the companies organ- 
ized for this service under the name of the Overland Mail 
Company. The mails were carried by this route until the 
outbreak of the rebellion. The company had been at large 
expense for outfit, the construction of roads, the sinking of 
wells, and the erection of buildings, all of which was a total 
loss. The government ordered the company upon the mid- 
dle route, substantially that of the present railroad, and a 
new contract was made for daily service, for the sum of 
$1,000,000 a year. At this price, however, it was not re- 
munerative. The government paid in greenbacks and the 
company was compelled to pay all its expenses in gold. The 
business was done at a great risk. Property to the value of 
hundreds of thousands of dollars was destroyed, and many 
murders committed by the Indians. The company could not 
protect life or treasure, the passenger business ceased almost 
entirely, and when the company disbanded upon the com- 
pletion of the Pacific Railroad, it had lost directly and in- 
directly fully, $10,000,000, and for this investment its stock- 
holders have never received a dollar. 

Mr. Fargo was for some time a director and vice-presi- 
dent of the New York Central Railroad Company; was con- 
nected with and a large contributor to the enterprise of the 



» 
THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 38o 

Northern Pacific Railroad, and for several years a director. 
He is now a director of the Buffalo, ISTew York and Phila- 
delphia Railroad Company, and is largely interested in the 
Buffalo Coal Company, and the Mclvean aud Buffalo Rail- 
road Company, all of which are enterprises undertaken to 
advance the manufacturing interests of Buffalo. Mr. Fargo 
is also a stockholder in several of the large manufacturing 
establishments of Buffalo, aud thoroughly identified with the 
growth and progress of the city of his residence. 

Mr. Fargo was Mayor of Buffalo for four years, from 1862 
to 1866, and distinguished himself for his courtesy, impar- 
tiality and executive ability. He has been a large and con- 
stant contributor to charitable, religious and, in fact, all 
public enterprises. He is a man of remarkable decision of 
character, an instinctive judge of men with the rare power 
of organization and control, and of unflinching resoluteness 
aud determination. His success has been in no sense acci- 
dental. He has trod with a purpose all the rounds of the 
ladder of his fortune, and at no stey) has the faintest breath 
of suspicion attached to his integrity. 

Jerome F. Fargo, now a resident of Buffalo, led as a child 
the life of all his brothers. He worked on a farm in the 
summers, attended school in the winters, until he was four- 
teen years of age, when he hired out to a farmer with the 
understanding that he was to remain until he became twen- 
ty-one. Farm-life, however, did not agree with his health, 
and, in 1835, he engaged as a clerk in Curtis' store on Pom- 
pey Hill. In 1836, he found employment in the grocery 
store ofPoUey & Goetchins, at Syracuse, where he remained 
a few months, and then hired to John 8tone, as an appren- 
tice to the baker's trade. He remained here until 1838, 
when he removed to Weedsport, aud engaged as a journey- 
man baker with Peter Sampson, After a years service in 
this capacity, he was clerk in the grocery and dry goods 
store of Baylis & Mills, in whose employ he remained some- 
thing more than a year. Then in company with William 
G. Fargo, he commenced business in Weedsport as a mer- 



384 THE POMPEY RE-UNTX)N. 

chant and baker. Upon the termination of this partner- 
ship, lie continued the bakery until 1841, when he removed 
to Auburn, in the employ of the Auburn and Syracuse Rail- 
road Company. For two years he acted as local freight 
conductor, and ran the first through freight train from Ro- 
chester to Albany without transfer, in the winter of 1846. In 
1847, he was promoted to a passenger conduetorship ; re- 
moved to Syracuse in 1849, and had charge of the train from 
Auburn to Syracuse, and, upon the consolidation of the Au- 
burn and Syracuse and Aulnirn and Rochester railroads, 
continued in this capacity until the organization of the Xew 
York Central Railroad Company. He served the Central 
road until June, 1856, when he removed toBuiialo. He was 
one of the propinetors of the Corn Dock Elevator, had charge 
of its construction and was engaged in its management until 
its destruction by fire in 1865. For five years, he was one 
of the lessees of the City Elevator, and continued in this 
business until the Spring of 1872. In July of the year fol- 
lowing, ho was appointed to the position of superintendent 
of the real estate and personal property of the American 
Express company on all the lines west of Buffalo, wliich po- 
sition he still holds. 

On the first of July, 1839, he married Miss Hannah Wat- 
son, of Weedsport, N. Y. They have been the parents of 
seven children, of whom only two are living. George W. 
Fargo, of Bufialo, and a daughter named Bessie. 

Rufus Fargo died at the age of two years, and his remains 
lie in the cemetery at Ponipey Hill. 

Chancellor L. Fargo learned the trade of a carriage maker, 
at Auburn, ISr. Y. He conducted that business for about 
five years at Watervale, and subsequently engaged in the 
Express business. His first wife was Phoobe Williams, a 
daughter of iSTathan Williams, of Pompey, who died soon 
after marriage, and his second wife Rebecca Winchester. 
He died while a resident of Maul i us, and was buried at 
Watervale. Three sons survive him, Samuel W., of Au- 
burn; Orrin, of Bufialo, and Fayette, of Chicago, El. 




\v<t 



iJO^oOTllilMS!] ^.[^i^^vc). 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 385 

Sarah Ann Fargo, married Harvey S. Reed, a brother of 
Col. Ralph T. Reed, late of Watervale. They reside at De- 
troit, Mich., and have two children, Charles F., and Fannie, 
who reside with their parents. 

Maryette Fargo, married Samuel P. Wormley, formerly 
of Ontario Connty, but now a resident of Marshall, Michi- 
gan. They have three sons — Frank, George and James. 

James C. Fargo came to Buffalo, as clerk in the office of 
Wells & Co's Express, in 1844, and advancing step by step 
in the Express business, now occupies one of the most re- 
sponsible positions in connection with the American Ex- 
press Company. He was made agent of the company in De- 
troit, in 1848, and was afterwards agent and manager of the 
lines which center at Chicago. He remained] here until 
1866, when he removed to !N"ew York city, to accept the po- 
sition of General Superintendent and Manager of all the 
business of the company, which he still holds, to the satis- 
faction of all parties. He is, also, President of The Mer- 
chants' Despatch Transportation Company, an organization 
which has a capital of $3,000,000, and owns and operates 
more than three thousand freight cars. lie is, also, one of 
the directors of the E'ational Express Company. He has 
mastered the Express business as thoroughly as any man in 
the country, and possesses in a marked degree the family 
characteristics of energy, promptness and decision. 

James married Fannie Stuart, of Battle Creek, Mich., and 
his family consists of three children — William and James, 
now students in Williams College, and Anna. 

Charles Fargo commenced his express education in the 
Detroit office under the charge of his brother James, and 
worked his way steadily up. After several years of expe- 
rience in the Detroit office, he was appointed agent at Tole- 
do. When James C. was transferred to Chicago, Charles 
took his place at Detroit, and upon the transfer of James to 
iSTew York, he removed to Cliicago, where he still resides, 
holding the iraportant'position of Assistant General Super- 

25 



386 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

iutendent of the Western Division of the American Express 
Company, and, also, tliat of director in the company. 

lie married Mary Jane Bradford, of CooperstoAvn, IsT. Y. 
They have fonr children — Irene, Livingston, Ada and Flor- 
ence. 

It should he said of the brothers James C, and Charles, 
that they liave grown up in the Express business, and have 
given it their close and undivided attention. In its general 
scope and in the most minute details, they are equally at 
home. They deserve and have won the confidence and re- 
spect of all the Express managers in the country, as gentle- 
men of marked ability and conspicuous exactness and trust- 
worthiness. Their relations with the railroad companies 
and other transportation lines extend over a period of nearly 
thirty years, and they are probably acquainted with a greater 
number of railroad officials and business men in the coun- 
try, than any other two men of their years. To these broth- 
ers may justly be given a large share of credit for the per- 
fect organization and successful working of the American 
Express Company. 

Thomas B. Fargo, married Miss Lou AVinfiekl. They re- 
side in Detroit, Michigan, and have one daughter. 

Emeline Fargo, married Frederick Deese, of Syracuse, 
who was for fourteen years passenger conductor on theXew 
York Central Eailroad, and is now engaged in the Express 
business. They have two daughters, who reside with their 
parents. 

Willett II. Fargo died at Decatur, 111., on Monday, Feb. 
14th, and Avas buried in Detroit. He married Emeline 
Caldwell, of Chapinville, N. Y. They have nochildren. 

Mortimer H. Fargo, the youngest son, married Mary 
Drake, of Painsville, Ohio. He is now agent for the Ameri- 
can Express Company, at Green Bay, Wisconsin, where his 
father nearly sixty years ago guarded the construction of a 
fort to protect the pioneers of civilization. During the 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 387 

summer of 1875, the veteran Fargo, at the ripe old age of 
eighty-four years,. visited his son at Green Bay. 

This is a hasty and condensed biography of a family that, 
as much as any other from Pompey, has been and is identi- 
fied with the growth and progress of the present century. 



THE VAK BROCKLIN FAMILY. 

Nicholas Van Brocklin, late of Pompey, although not a 
pioneer, resided in Pompey over fifty years, and mostly re- 
claimed the land on which he settled in 1821. He was born 
May 26th, 1786, in Johnstown, Montgomery county, N. Y,. 
at a place called Sammon's Hollow, about four miles w^est of 
the village of Johnstown. A brief mention of his ancestors 
will show that his father's name was Gilbert Van Brocklin, 
and he had three brothers, Malachi, Nicholas and Harpet, 
all of them patriots in the revolutionary war, and engaged 
in the cruel contest which occurred in that eventful period, 
upon the borders of civilization, with the remorseless tories 
and Indians, One of the brothers, Nicholas, was taken pris- 
oner l)y the tories and Indians, transported into the wil- 
derness and was never heard of more. This vicinity was 
the theatre of the operations of Brant and the Johnsons 
whose baronial mansion was near Johnstown. 

The grand-father of the subject of this sketch, emigrated 
from Holland about the year 1730, with two brothers and a 
sister. The names of two of the brothers were Nicholas and 
Alexander, the other is thought to have been Harpet and 
the sister Barbara. Only two of the brothers who came 
from Holland were married and from them have sprung 
probably all the Van Brocklins in the United States. The 
maternal ancestry of Mr. Van Brocklin was Scotch and his 
mother's ancestral name was Wilson. 

In early life he was surrounded l)y a settlement remarka- 
ble for its independence and patriotism, including the Sam- 
nions,the Fondas, the Vedders and others of revolutionary 



388 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

fame. The political contests in the early days of the Repub- 
lic waged in his native county, which but a few years before 
had been the witness of a ferocious savage warfare by pat- 
riots on the one hand and tories and Indians on the other, 
made a lasting impression on his mind and closely allied him 
to that party which opposed the Federalist, and always 
through the subsequent years of his life, he was a zealous 
supporter of the Democratic party. 

At about the age of twenty-four he married Margaret, a 
daughter of John and Mary Shields, who with their family 
one son and seven daughters emigrated from Ireland about 
the year 1800. Mrs. John Shield's maiden name was Mary 
"White and three of her brothers were Presbyterian minis- 
ters. Mr. Shields first landed in Delaware, but soon came 
north to Montgomery county, and in 1820 to Pompey, where 
lie resided till his death. Of his children, Mary married a 
Mr. Newkirk and after his death a Mr. Dawson. Jane mar- 
ried Bela Farr, late of Norwich, N. Y. 

Isabella married Jeremiah Van Epps, late of Homer, N. Y. 
Martha married . James Gilmore, late of Manlius, K Y. 
Elizabeth married a Mr. Frazier and her husband died soon 
after, and she ever after lived with her sister Sarah, who 
married Henry Barber a son of Elihu mentioned on another 
pao-e of this volume. Patrick Shields, the only son, married 
Mrs. Sherwood a widow of one of the Pompey pioneers, and 
lived near Delphi in Pompey, till his death. As before 
stated Margaret married Mcholas Van Brocklin. From 
these seven sisters have sprung a numerous progeny and 
amono- them were several men of influence and eminent 
ability. Among them may be noted Hon. Joseph Farr, late 
of Norwalk, Ohio, James Farr, late of ITew York, Drs. James 
and John Gilmore of Kunda, K. Y. Mrs. Van Brocklin 
was a remarkable natural mathematician, being prompt 
and accurate in mental computation of all the business trans- 
actions of her husband, often correcting the errors of mer- 
chants who used pen and paper. Mr. Van Brocklin was a 
farmer but always evinced a lively interest in public affairs. 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 389 

Their children in the order of ther ages were Gilbert, Jane, 
Ann, Eliza B., John S., James W., Margaret, Martha and 
"William White. The first six were born in Johnstown, and 
the two youngest in Pompey. When they moved to Pom- 
pey in 1821, they first located on a farm near Elihu Barber, 
but soon disposed of this and purchased of Robert Camp- 
bell the fiirm next east' of where Grace Greenwood was 
born. Here they lived till the day of their death, Mrs. 
Van Brocklin died Aug. 29, 1855, at the age of sixty-eight. 
Nicholas Van Brocklin died March 1st, 1872, in the 86th 
year of his age, never having used eye glasses and having 
read the bible five times through the last five years of his 
life. His son John Shields, and two of his daughters Eliza 
B., and Martha still reside on the old homestead. 

Gilbert engaged in agricultural pursuits at first, and sub- 
sequently became a successful occulist. He married Emma 
Withey, of Port Byron. While on a journey from Buftalo, 
where he resided, he died in Chicago in 1853. Jane Ann 
married John King, a farmer of Pompey, and they reside 
near what is known as the block school house. An only 
living daughter, Mary, lives with her parents. Their only 
son David owns and occupies the Asa H. Wells farm near 
Pompey Hill. Margaret Van Brocklin died at the age of 
three years, soon after her parents came to Pompey. 

James W. is a carpenter and joiner, and has built many 
dwellings in Pompey. In 1844 he married Tirza Tiflany, 
by whom he has six children, Mary, Julia, Wm. H., James, 
Charles and Frank. The first three are married. He owns 
and occupies tlie Bennet farm near Pompey Hill. 

Wm. W., the youngest, worked his way through college, 
graduating at Hamilton, in the class of 1850. He taught 
school several years, commencing at Port Byron, N. Y., at 
the age of sixteen. Subsequently he taught in Fabius, 
Pompey and Syracuse. Studied law in the oflice of Gardner 
and Burdick, and was admitted to practice in 1853. Since 
that time he has followed law and farming, and now is the 
only resident lawyer of Pompey, owning and occupying the 



390 THE POMPEY RE-UNTON. 

Daniel Gott residence at Pompey Hill, wliich he purchased 
of Robert Ellis in 1874. He married in 1850, Lucy Aylworth, 
a grand-daughter of Rev. Jas. P. Aylworth, and daughter of 
Hon. O. Aylworth, late of Fabius. They have no children 
living. 



DAVID Wn^LIAMS. 

The subject of this notice was born in Halifax, July IGth, 
1782, and when nine years old came to Pompey. At the 
age of twenty-one, he married Mary Eastman, who was born 
July 4th, 1782. The day after their marriage Mr. Wil- 
liams killed a bear. With the exception of five years they 
have ever since their marriage resided in Pompey, till last 
fall, (1875,) when Mr. Williams died at the advanced age of 
ninety-three. He was a farmer and lived about a mile and 
a half north of Watervale. Mrs. Williams' father, Timothy 
Eastman, served seven years in the war of the revolution. 
Mrs. AVilliams is still living with her son, Hiram D., on the 
old homestead. One other son Horace resides in Michigan, 
and these constitute all that remain of the family. Two 
brothers of David also early came to Pompey, and settled on 
and near the corners where Egbert Avery now resides. They 
too, were farmers and remained residents of Pompey, till 
their death. One of them wasXathan, the father-in-law of 
Hon. Wm. G. Fargo, and the other was Daniel. They all 
bore the re] )utation of honest, upright citizens. 



ASA WELLS. 
Asa Wells was born in Colchester, Conn,, Aug. 6th, 1774. 
In the spring of 1803, he came to Pompey and built a log 
house at Pompey Hill, on the place occupied by the late 
Daniel March at the time of his death. In 1807, he located 
cast of Pompey Hill on the farm east of and adjoining the 
Daniel Wood farm. Here also he erected a log house in a 
small clearing in the woods. So small was the clearing that 
it Avas necessary to remove his children and wife from the 




'^ vu 




THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 891 

house ill falling the large trees. Mr. "Wells was an excellent 
mathematician and practical surveyor. lie with a corps of 
assistants laid out the road running north from the Academy 
to Manlius, and being no house on the way they camped out 
at night. He assisted the Senior Geddes in surveying for 
the Oswego canal. His father being an officer in service 
during the whole period of the revolutionary war, he inher- 
ited a military ambition, and for mau}^ years was an officer 
in the militia. When Sacket's Harbor was threatened by 
the British, he being then a captain of militia, his whole 
company volunteered to go if he would lead them, which he 
did. Afterwards he held the office of colonel of the militia for 
several years. In the civil service he held various important 
trusts. Was for a long time a Justice of the Peace, repre- 
sented his town in the Board of Supervisors, was memljcr of 
the State Assembly, and Judge of the County Court. He 
died in February, 1859, at the age of 79 years. 

Chloe Hyde Wells, wife of Asa Wells, died in January, 
1872, aged 92J years, retaining her faculties to the last. 

Their children now living are Mrs. J. B. Pitkin of Oswe- 
go, Mrs. J. F. Ostrander, now of Mantorville, Minnesota, who 
was for many years a teacher in the schools of Pompey, Mrs. 
Morris Beard of Pompey, Levi Wells of Pompey, who has 
been for 32 years a Justice of the Peace. He also represent- 
ed the town of Pompey for eighteen years in the Board of 
Supervisors, and became a living encyclopedia of the records 
of the Board. He was an honest, faithful and efficient offi- 
cer. Like his father he was a practical surveyor. 

Dr. Lucien B. Wells, of Utica, N. Y., was an early con- 
vert to the principles and jDractice of Homoeopatliy. He has 
been an active pioneer in the advancement of that system of 
medicine and in 1870 was chosen President of the Homa^o- 
pathic State Medical Society. Since writing the above 
sketch, Levi AVells has gone to join his aged parents across 
the river of death upon the land of Immortality. He died 
March 31st, 1872, in thetriumj)h of the christian's faith. In 



392 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

his death the community lost a citizen of the highest tjpe of 
integrity and virtue, and the loss was sincerely mourned by 
all. 



HENRY SEYMOUR, 

Was born at Litchfield, Connecticut, in 1781. He was a 
son of Major Moses Seymour of that place, who was an ofli- 
cer in the army of the revolution, and for many^-earsa 
member of the Legislature of that State ; and who died m 
1827, at the age of 84. 

Major Seymour had five children, namely, one daughter, 
Mrs. Marsh, of Litchfield, (who lived to be 94 years of age,) 
and four sons, Horatio Seymour, of Middlebury, Vermont, 
United States Senator, from 1821 to 1833, Ozias Seymour, 
of Litchfield, sherift'of Litchfield county, Moses Seymour a 
lawyer, who also resided at Litchfield, Epaphro Seymour, 
of Brattleboro, Vermont, President of the Brattleboro Bank, 
and Henry Seymour, the subject of this notice. 

Henry Seymour moved to Pompey Hill at an early day 
and entered into business as a merchant. By his integrity, 
sound judgment, and executive ability, he soon became so 
well and favorably known that from 1816 to 1819, and again 
in 1822, he was elected State Senator from that part of the 
State, then called the Western District. In 1818, he was 
nominated and chosen by the Assembly a member ot the 
" Comicil of Appointment," which council had the ap- 
pointing of a great portion of the civil, military, and judi- 
cial officers of the State. On the 24th of March, 1819, while 
the Erie and Champlain Canals were being constructed, he 
was made by the Legislature one of the Commissioners in 
charge of those works, with DeWitt Clinton, Stephen Van- 
Renssalaer, William C. Bouck, Samuel Youngs, and Myron 
Holley. Mr. Seymour held this office and was actively en- 
gaged in the discharge of its duties until the year 1833, 
having in the meantime and about the fiiU of the year 1819, 
moved with his family from Pompey Hill to Utica. In 1833 






#^-'' 




f:^-^^^^. 



^/^t«A. 



I 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 393 

he resigned the position of Canal Commissioner, and was 
chosen President of the Farmers' Loan and Trust Company 
of the city of New York, and continued its President until 
his death. 

The change from an active life in the country to the se- 
dentary life of an office in the city of New York, destroyed 
his health, and he died at Uticain 1837. His wife survived 
him, living at the family residence in Utica, until her death 
in 1859. She w^as born at Monmouth, New Jersey, Feb. 
18, 1785, and was a daughter of Colonel Jonathan Forman 
of that place, who at the age of 19, left Princeton College 
to join the revohitionary army, which he entered as lieut- 
enant, and in which he served throughout the war, rising to 
the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. 

The mother of Mrs Seymour, was a Ledyard, a niece of 
the Col. Ledyard who was in command at Fort Griswold, 
opposite New London, at the time of its capture and the 
massacre of its defenders by the British. About the year 
1797, Col. Forman moved with his family to Cazenovia, 
then a frontier settlement in Madison county. At that 
time there was no wagon road west from Whitestown, and 
in many places they were obliged to cut open the way, and 
it is said ih-dt the carriage of this party Avas the first con- 
veyance oi the kind that passed beyond the site of Whites- 
town. Col. Forman drove to Chitteaango, and from there 
the family proceeded to Cazenovia on horseback. Col. For- 
man was accompanied by his brother, Major Samuel For- 
man, who subsequently resided in Syracuse, living to the 
age of 96. Miss Forman was married to Henry Seymour at 
Cazenovia, in 1807, their children were six in number, all 
of whom are now living, namely, Mary the wife of Mr. 
Rutger B. Miller, of Utica, Horatio Seymour, of Utica, 
Sophia, widow of Mr. Edward F. Shonnard, of Yonkers, 
Westchester county, John F. Seymour, of Utica, Helen, 
widow of Mr. Ledyaj'd Lincklacn, of Cazenovia, and 
Julia, wife Mr. Roscoe Conkling, of Utica. 



894 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

HORATIO SEYMOUR. 

Horatio Seymour, the eldest son of Henry Seymour, was 
born at Tompey Hill, in 1811. He studied law in the otHce 
ot'Judi;'e8 Beardsley and Bronson, atUtica; was admitted to 
the bar and practiced a siiort time, but was soon diverted 
from this profession by the care of property left in his hands 
and by jiolitical studies and pursuits. As an advocate of 
the principles ot the democratic party, he was elected a 
member of the assembly of this State in 1841; mayor of 
the city of ITtica in 1842; chosen speaker of the assembly 
in 1845, and Governor of the State of New York in 185o-5. 

In 18G1, before the outbreak of the war, he endeavored 
to arrest it by counseling conciliatory measures towards the 
South. After the commencement of hostilities, he de- 
nounced the rebellion, and ileclared that his party meant 
with all their "powers of mind and person to support the 
Constitution and uphold the Union, to maintain the laws 
and to preserve the public faith." 

In 18G2 he was ai^^-iin elected Governor of the Stat^. Early 
in 1803, when a portion of the republican press was threat- 
ening to supercede President Lincoln, the President was as- 
sured by a messenger from Governor Seymour, that the 
democratic party of the State of New Y^ork would sustain 
him in the exercise of his Constitutional powers as Presi- 
dent of the United States, against all comers. When arbi- 
trary and illegal arrests were agitating the people of the 
State and endangering the cause of the Union, the tirmncss 
of his opposition to these vijolations of personal liberty, and 
the measures taken by him to enlighten the public on the 
dangers which might ensue Irom a disregard of the rights 
of the humblest citizen, changed the current of o})inion 
among republicans, and tended largely to put a stop to such 
unwise and uidawful measures. 

In 18()o, when the southern army entered rennsylvania, 
he was called upon b}' J'resident Lincoln for volunteers to 
protect that State and repel the invaders; in response he 






(^^^^-C-^tJ^-E^^ 



i 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 395 

forwarded troops with such promptness and energy that 
Mr. Stanton, Secretary of War, twice telegraphed the 
thanks of President Lincoln. The State of N'ew York dur- 
ing his administration, furnished her fall share of troops in 
the United States army. His policy was to restore the 
Union and at the same time to maintain the constitution of 
the State of 'New York and the rights of its citizens. In 
July, 1863, when a conscription upon the cities of New 
York and Brooklyn (which subsequent investigation proved 
to be unjust) caused the assemblage of an angry and frantic 
mob at the City Hall, Governor Seymour appeared on the 
steps of the City Hall, unprotected by any military force, 
and by a lew words of assurance that he would protect their 
rights, induced the people to disperse. He was much criti- 
cised for addressing the excited multitude as his friends, but 
his words separated the well meaning from those in the 
mob whose intentions were evil, and some of them became 
conservators of the city. 

He was president of the ISTational Democratic Convention 
at Chicago, in August, 1864. He was again nominated in 
1864 as the candidate for Governor of the State, but was 
defeated by Reuben E. Fenton. He was again president of 
the National Democratic Convention at New York, July 4, 
1868, and nominated as its candidate for President of the 
United States, but was defeated by General Grant. Since 
that time Governor Seymour has devoted his attention chief- 
ly to agricultural pursuits, and to the advancement of the 
farminof interests of the countrv. 



HENRY WALTER DePUY, 

son of Jacob Rutson DePuy and Polly Clement, was l)orn 
in Pompey, Sept. 1820. Ilis first rudiments of education 
were obtained at the common district school, which were 
perfected at the " Old Academy." 

He learned the art of printing of the Rev. D. D. Rudd, of 
Auburn, and soon edited and published the Fayetteville 



896 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

Times, 1836. He next read law with tlie late Hicks Wor- 
den, and was admitted to practice. The profession was dis- 
tasteful and he resumed journalism, and edited for a time 
the Cortland Democrat, and while yet a minor. He removed 
to Albion, Orleans Co., and w^hile here married Theodosia 
Thomas, of Lewiston. He next sought the " Great "West," 
and edited papers in Indianapolis, LaFayette, Ind., and 
Rockford, Ills., all wo believe in support of the Liberty 
l.arty. 

He was the author of several biographical and historical 
works, among them "Kossuth and His Generals, with a 
Brief History of Hungary," with an introduction by Henry 
J. Raymond. This work was submitted to the great Hun- 
garian agitator himself, and carefully examined by Mr. 
PuLSKY, his private secretary, who pronounced it the most 
correct account of the subjects treated of then extant. He 
was also author of " Louis Napoleon and His Times, with a 
Memoir of the Bonaparte Family;" and " Ethan Allen and 
the Green Mountain Heroes of '76, with the Early History 
of Vermont." He was private secretary to Governor Sey- 
mour during his term of 1853-4, and subsequently served 
as consul to Carlsruhe, and Avas appointed secretary of le- 
gation at Berlin, which place he resigned to take part in 
the political struggle of 1860. He was appointed Secretary 
of I^ebraska by President Lincoln, and organized tliat Ter- 
ritory. He served as the first speaker of the Nebraska 
Legislature, and was also Indian agent to the Pawnees 
under President Lincoln, devoting much time to an eftbrt 
to reform the Indian service of the Government. He 
was a constant contributor to the political press and the 
author of several popular poems. Died in New York Feb. 
2d, 1876. 



ORAN— HISTORICAL. 



In the vicinity of Oran, in Pompey, an old man remarka- 
bly well preserved and having a clear memory of the early 
history of that portion of the town lives, Elias Barnes, upon 
the farm upon which he was born in 1796. From Stock- 
bridge, Mass., his father Asa Barnes came to Pompey, and 
purchased this farm in 1793. Phineas Barnes and Roswell 
Barnes, brothers of Asa, also came at the same time. In 
the early part of 1791 the^^ brought their families, arriving 
at their new home March 5th, of that year, coming by the 
way of Albany and Utica. The land upon which they set- 
tled is upon Lot N"o. 11 of the origmal survey of the town. 
Job Bartholimew settled in 1793, upon the west part of the 
same lot. Daniel Thomas and Capt. Peck settled about the 
same time, on Lot No. 22. Thomas Foster and James Sco- 
ville, the father of Joseph Scoville, also settled near the 
present village of Oran, on Lot No. 11. Joseph Scoville 
now (1875,) owns the original farm upon whicli his father 
settled but lives on Lot No. 10. James Midler who was a 
revolutionary soldier, and the grand-father of Columbus 0. 
Midler, of Pompey, and of Philip P. Midler of DeWitt, 
came with his brothers Christoplier and Philip, about the 
year 1800, and occupied his soldier claim. Two sisters also 
came and one married a Mr. Ilorton, and the other, Betsey, 
married Daniel Candee, who is dead, but she now resides 
in Manlius. Geo. Clark who was the first merchant in 
Oran, and the first teacher, and who was the father of 
Brunson Clark, of Pompey, settled shortly after on the 
farm where Morgan Lewis now lives. Charles Thomas 
settled where Sandford Lewis resides. Deacon Hart Capt. 



398 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

Pundason Avery and Wm. Barnes settled in the vicinity 
where S. B. Saftbrd now lives. Shubel Saftbrd, the father 
Silas B. Safford, settled on Lot No. 10. Francis Hale in 
1802, purchosed of Judge Butler, and settled on Lot 'No. 12, 
Xoah Palmer add Mr. Tripp of whom David Scoville purch- 
ased, had settled in this locality. Selah Goodrich reclaimed 
and settled the land where Mr. Bowen now lives. 

The first hotel put up at Oran, was built by Job Bartheli- 
mew, about 1798, and by him kept till 1808. In 1809, 
another hotel was erected on the site of the present hotel, 
and was kept by Wm. Scoville. The first school house was 
erected at Oran, about 1800, and Geo. Clark was the teach- 
er. A church was erected in 1808, and called " The Pleas- 
ant Valley Congregational Church.*' The first physician 
was Dr. Daniel D. Denison, who came about the year 1810, 
and remained till his death, about 20 years ago. He was 
the father of Dr. H. D. Denison and William Denison, of 
Syracuse, and D. D. Denison, of Oran. In an early day, 
Oran was a more thriving business place than at present, as 
well as most of the other villages in Onondaga county. 
About 1810, there were at Oran, two stores, two hotels, two 
blacksmith shops, a wagon maker shop, two tanneries, a 
grist-mill, a distillery, an ashery and more inhabitants than 
now. 



REMINISCENCES. 



The following papers, furnished by James "W. Gould, of 
Syracuse, from the original manuscript among the old relics 
of his father, who was a pioneer of the original town of 
Pompey, are deemed worthy of a place in this book: 

A RESOLVE OF THE SUPERVISORS AT THEIR MEETING IN SCIPIO. 

Resolved, That the following recommendations be trans- 
mitted to the diiferent towns in this county by their respec- 
tive Supervisors, viz: — 

Whereas, The Supervisors of the County of Onondaga 
have found many inconveniences by the various modes taken 
in the different towns in assessing the ratable property in 
the county, have thought it a, duty to recommend to the 
assessors of each respective town next to be chosen in said 
towns, a mode of taking the valuation of property which 
appears to us the most elligible in our local situation, desir- 
ing tliis to be publicly read at the next annual town meet- 
ing, which uniform mode will render the next Board of 
Supervisors, our successors in ofhce, more capable of doing- 
justice in levying taxes in our infant State, viz: — Estimate 
as follows : 

Improved lands of a medium quality, 20s per acre 

Working Oxen of a medium quality, £16 per yoke 

Cows of a medium quality, £5 per piece 

Young Cattle of 3 years old and under, 20s per year 

Horses of a medium quality, £10 per piece 

Colts, 3 years and nnder, 40s per year 

Hogs that will weigh 100 weight, 20s per piece 



400 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

Xegro Men AoO per head 

Negro Wenches, £30 per head 

Grist Mills, £50 per piece 

Saw Mills, £30 per piece 

And those articles of an inferior or superior quality in pro- 
portion, and other ratable property in like proportion. 

The Board further recommends to the consideration of 
the ditterent towns, the following mode in taking the assess- 
ment, viz: — That each person holding ratable property shall 
give in to the assessor a list of his or her ratable property 
or estate, in writing, agreeable to the request of the assessor, 
which will be an avoucher for the assessor, and prevent any 
aspertions of injustice of being taxed unequally by those 
having that part of duty to do in society. 

The Board also recommends to assessors that they com- 
pletely make out their list of assessment by the first of May, 
as the law directs, so that the Supervisors may be enabled 
to proceed on their business at their first meeting, and save 
the county costs. 

And further, we also recommend to the towns to adopt a 
uniform mode of granting a bounty on wolves, and render 
the reward of each man in his exertions for the destruction 
of these animals. Therefore, with submission, we think a 
reward of forty shillings, in addition to the bounty allowed 
by the county, to be adequate for the bounty of each wolf 

The Board submits the above recommendations to the 
consideration of the several towns within this county of 
Onondaga, 

By order of the Board. 

Comfort Tyler, Clerk. 
A true copy for the town of Pompey. 

SciPio, December 20th, 1795. 



Wo, the subscribers, inhabitants of Bloomingvale, in the 
town of Mexico, county of Herkimer and State of Xew 
York, taking into consideration the importance of the edu- 



THE POMPEY P.E-UNION. 401 

cation of youth, as well to prepare them for a discharge of 
those religious duties which we owe our God, our neifli- 
])ors and ourselves, as to gain that knowledge of letters 
which they may need to carry them happily and usefully 
through life, which is, (to use tlie expression of the cele- 
brated Dr. Watts,) one of the greatest blessings tliat ever 
God bestowed on the children of men, have associated, and 
by these presents do enter into a solemn compact for the 
laudable purposes aforesaid, hereby i)ledging our good faith 
each to the other to carry the following objects into execu- 
tion under the following regulations: — 

First, That we will build a scliool house atBloornino-vale 
aforesaid, at or near the fork of the Genesee road with the 
road leading to Mr. Gold's, adjacent to the stream of water 
leading by the liouse of Mr. Rust; the size and fashion of 
which said house, and the time in which the same shall be 
completed to be determined on by a meeting for that pur- 
pose at the place aforesaid, on Monday, the second day of 
September next. 

Secondly, That we will on the day aforesaid, appoint a 
committee, or otherwise provide to carry the result of our 
then regulations into execution. 

Thirdly, That we will contribute to and bear an equal 
proportion, according to our number, in erecting and com- 
pleting the said house. 

Fourthly, That the said building when so completed shall 
be held and considered as our private property, jointly and 
severally ; and that each proprietor shall be at liberty at anj; 
and all times, to dispose of his share to any person or per 
sons who support the character or characters of good, whole- 
some citizens, first, however, giving the refusal to the asso- 
ciation. 

Fifthly, That as soon as the said building is completed 
we shall, if possible, procure a teacher for the said school, 
for such salary or salaries and in such way as may appear 
the most eligible to insure the objects of this association, 

26 



102 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

which shall be made up and paid by us in such proportion 
as may be judged equitable and right. 

Sixthly, That all future regulations and arrangements 
necessary to answer the above objects, shall be legal and 
binding on the whole, provided two-thirds of the association 
assent and agree thereto. 

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands, 
this twentji -second day of July, one thousand, seven hun- 
dred and ninety-three, (1793.) 

Moses DeWitt, 
Benjamin Morehouse, 

ICHABOD LaTHROP, 

Samuel Younglove, 
Daniel Keeler, 
Jeremiah Gould, 
Thomas Gaston, 
John Tillotson, 
Thomas Dixon, 
Elijah Rust, 
Comfort Tyler, 
Wm. Haskins, 
Oliver Owen, 
Joseph Woodworth, 
Thomas White. 



Additional Biographies. 



SAMUEL BAKER. 

Samuel, eldest child of Nathaniel and Lydia (Tallmadge) 
Baker, was born at East Hampton, Suffolk County, L. I., 
October 2d, 1793. Died at Pompey, KY., Aug. 8, 1874. 

The subject of this sketch, was the sixth in descent from 
Judge Thomas Baker, of East Hampton, L. I. It cannot be 
doubted that he received his training and character princi- 
pally at the hands of his mother, Lydia Tallmadge. She was 
the daughter of one of the Deacons of Mr. Buel's church, of 
East Hampton, and was a woman of the greatest sweetness, 
simplicity, and yet strength of character. Deprived, as she 
was, for so many years of her life, of her hearing, and singu- 
larly retiring and modest in disposition, she was yet known 
throughout the town of Pompey, where so much of her life 
was spent, as ready for every good w^ord and work. 

In 1798, Mr. ISTathaniel Baker and his family removed 
from East Hampton to Balston, Saratoga County. In 1806, 
they removed to Pompey. Deacon Baker used often to tell 
that as they drove into the village, coming from the Oriska- 
ney reservation by the State road, leading from Cazenovia 
and Green's Corners, he san' the frame of the Academy stand- 
ing gaunt and skeleton-like against the sky, as they drove past 
it. His father soon purchased the red building at the north- 
west corner of the green, which had been erected in part as 



404 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

a store house for grain purchased, and also the farm which 
has heen ever since in the possession of the family. 

As the Academy in Pompey was still unendowed and un- 
iinished, young Baker was compelled to seek his education 
elsewhere. He pursued a full course of study at the Acade- 
my in Clinton, tinishing his studies there with the last class 
which was sent fortli before its charter as " Hamilton C'ol- 
lege" took effect. Returning to Pompey in about 1812, he 
proposed to devote himself to the profession of the law. He 
entered the ofhce of S. S. Baldwin, Esq., where he pursued 
the study of the law for more than two years. Either the 
study or the surroundings, however, proved not to his taste. 
About that time, Mr. Morris desired his assistance for a 
time in his store ; and he left the law office apparently for 
a few weeks only, but as it proved, for a permanent occupa- 
tion. After a clerkship of considerable length in the store, 
he became interested in it, and subsequently, sole proprie- 
tor of it ; though he called to his assistance at various times, 
Mr. N". Andrews, Mr. L. B. Pitcher, &c., finally retiring 
from the business in 1841 ; having then, as it was said, been 
employed as a merchant longer than any other person in the 
County. On the 21st of Sept., 1819, he was married to Phile- 
na Hascall, fifth daughter of Joseph Hascall, of Pawlet, Vt., 
for forty years Deacon of the Baptist church, there. She 
died August 17th, 1842. On the 3d Dec, 1826, Mr. Baker 
and his wife became members of the Congregational church 
in Pompey. On the 26th April, 1840, he was chosen one of 
the Deacons of the church, and officiated as such till the 
time of his death, having been absent, it is believed, but a 
sino-le communion service, and that only a few weeks before 
his death. 

At a very early period Mr. Baker was chosen one of the 
trustees of Pompey Academy, and served for many years in 
that capacity, being usually one of the Prudential Commit- 
tee. Deacon Baker was a man of aftable spirit, of sound 
judgment, a kind husband, and loving father; a citizen 
faithful in every relation of life. His life was, in fact, iden- 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 405 

tified thoroughly with the church, of which he was for near- 
ly 40 years one of the most laborious and useful members. 
He was, almost literally, nev^er absent from his place in the 
prayer meeting and in the church. And no church could 
have a more thoroughly consistent or devoted member. He 
wore his religion as a daily garment. With him, Christiani- 
ty was not a theory, but a practical, heartfelt, daily expe- 
rience. His whole nature was moulded by it, and his whole 
life was absorbed in it. It was at once his work, his life, 
and his joy. Most strictly conscientious, always pursuing 
the golden rule, it was not strange that no man should have 
aught to say against him. He who never spake ill of any 
one, might well enjoy the enviable distinction of having no 
one speak ill of him. The thoroughness of his conversion, 
reaching not only his moral nature, but extending to all his 
possessions, seemed to make it both easy and natural for 
him to live a truly christian life. This latter life was 
marked by no special exaltation or depression, but was calm, 
steadfast, consistent, faithful and always peaceful. His nat- 
ural courtesy, his sterling good sense, and his equable tem- 
per, made him an admirable counsellor, a reliable friend, 
and a true peace maker. He married for his second wife 
Miss Eunice B. Birdseye, of Cornwall, Ct., who survives 
him. The children who survive him, (all of the first mar- 
riage,) are as follows: 

1. Henry H. Baker, living in the homestead; 2. Cathar- 
ine M., wife of Lucien Birdseye, of Brooklyn, N. Y. ; 3. 
Tallmadge Baker, formerly a merchant in New York city, 
nnd now resident in South Norwalk, Ct. ; 4. Mrs. Frances 
B., wife of Thomas Sherwood, Jr., of Kalamazoo, Mich. ; 5. 
1). Kellogg Baker, merchant, ot 'New York city ; 6. James 
S. Baker, merchant, of New York city. 



JESSE BUTLER. 

Jesse Butler, son of Ebenezer Butler, Sen., was born in 
Bradford, Conn., Oct. 30, 17(34. 



406 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

He was married in 1786, to Miss Louisa Soper, by whom 
he had eight children — Riley, Merit, Lucinda, Orange, 
Gould, Louisa, Maria D., and Jesse S. The first three 
were born in Connecticut. Orange was the first white male 
child born within present limits of the town of Pompey. 

Mr. B. came to Pompey in the Spring of 1792, and bought 
of his brother, Ebenezer Butler, Jr., one hundred acres of 
land. He remained through the summer, made a small 
clearing, and put up a small log house on the knoll near a 
spring of water, a little to the north of the house now, (1873) 
owned and occupied by Mr. Horatio S. Birdseye. He re- 
turned to Connecticut, in the fall of same year; and the 
next spring, March, 1793, returned in company with Geo. 
Catlin and their families, and made Pompey their home. 

Their families and efliects were brought hither on a sled 
drawn by oxen — of which each owned one. They wended 
their way from Whitestown, largely aided by marked trees. 
Each of the two women having young children to care for. 

During his life Mr. B. was a farmer — always in good 
health, rarely, if ever, gone from his home and family for 
24 hours together. He and his wife kept house for 60 
years. 

In 1847 or 8, they sold the farm and moving to Fabius, 
spent the remainder of their lives with their daughter Lou- 
isa—Mrs. Ella W. Boss. Mr. B. died Nov. 30, 1856, aged 
92 years. Mrs. Butler lived till the next April, 1857, ^vhen 
she died, aged 92 years and 9 months. She was one of the 
few original members of the Congregational church, in Pom- 
pey, and for more than 61 years and till her death, a com- 
municant in that church. 

Of their children, Riley Butler was born in Ilarwington, 
Conn. He was about five ^^ears of age when with his father, 
he came to Pompey. Was married in 1811, to Rachel Fris- 
bee, of Harwington. He moved from Pompey to Albion, 
Orleans Co., IST. Y., in 1824. His wife died at Albion, leav- 
ing six children. He afterwards moved to Midi., to a jilace 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 40T 

about 18 miles from Detroit. He died about the year 1869. 
The children are now living in Cliieago, and in the State of 
Mich. 

Merit Butler was born in Ilarwington, Conn., April 10, 
1790. He was three years of age Avhen his father moved to* 
Porapey. From that time till to-day, (March, 1876,) he has- 
been a resident of Pompey. He lives to-day, being the last 
of the original settlers of this township, and perhaps, (it was 
so declared at last raeieting of Pioneers,) the oldest resident 
of Onondaga Co. He still retains, at the age of 86 years, a 
strong physical constitution, and mental faculties unimpair- 
ed. His memory is very reliable. To him, more than to 
any other one individual, are we indebted for the facts and 
dates which make the Historical chapter of this book. He 
has an almost perfect recollection of the settlement and 
growth pf Pompey village. At one time he knew every 
person residing within the town. He gives us names, dates, 
and cirCumstaiices ; relating; as few can do, the history of 
Pompey, and of Onondaga Co. 

He was married to Miss Sabina Bigelow, daughter of Jo- 
siah Bigelow, of Pompey, in 1813 ; by whom he had six 
children — Josiah B., who died in Syracuse, in 1855; Sarah 
L., wife of Rev. Goo. M. Peck, of ~Vy3'0ming Conference, 
now living in Honesdale, Pa. ; Ellen, wife of Carnie Hey- 
don, living atPompe}'; Amelia S., wife of LL H. Patterson, 
who died at Homer, in 1856; Ebenezcr, for many years 
Principal of Seymour School, Syracuse, now Supt. Schools, 
Whitehall, N". Y. ; and Wells M., still residing in Pompey. 

Mr. Butler spent liis youth on a farm ; at age of 20, went 
to learn Blacksmithing, at which trade he worked for 40 
3^ears. 

His v/ife died June 24, 1875, at the ripe age of 82 years 
and 8 mo. She will l)e remembered by the many who liave 
been inmates of her household in their younger days, as 
the kind-hearted, benevolent, sympathizing friend ; ever 
ready, with willing feet andliands to minister to the happi- 
ness of others. 



408 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

Lucinda Butler married Dea. J. Curtis, of Elbridge. She 
lived in Elbridge many 3'ears. Afterwards with her hus- 
band moved to Malone, 111., where she resided till her death. 
She left two children, Louisa and Maria. The first named 
is a prominent teacher in Chicago Public Schools — being 
Principal of a Ward school of that city. 

Orange Butler was born at Pompey, March 5, 1794, 
graduated at Union College, and soon after entered the of- 
fice of Hon. Victory Birdseye, with whom he pursued his 
legal studies till admitted to the bar — removing to Vienna, 
Ontario Co. He commenced the practice of law, but re- 
mained only a short time, when he settled in Gaines, Or- 
leans Co. He was District Attorney of Orleans County 
for several years, and had a very extensve practice, being 
prominent in the famous Morgan trials during the anti- 
Masonic excitement. 

Full of enterprise, he removed to Adrian, Mich. Soon 
becoming popular by his ability and aitable manners, he was 
sent to the Legislature during the administration of Stephen 
T. Mason. Declining political preferment, he addressed 
himself studiously to his profession, establishing an enviable 
reputation as a sound lawyer and brilliant advocate. In 
1849 he removed to Lansing, where he resided till time of 
his death in 1870. Abandoning his profession, for a num- 
ber of years before his death he lived in agreeable retirement. 
He was an accomplished classical scholar and line linguist; 
clear in judgment, cheerful, upright in all his intercourse 
with his fellow men. He lived to till up the measure cf a 
long and useful life, being seventy-six years of age when 
called away. 

He married Miss Wealthy Handy, of Pompey. They had 
five children — John, Chas. W., still residing at Lansing, 
Augustus S., deceased, Helen, wife of O. A. Jcnison, and 
Augusta, wife of C. M. Beebe ot Lansing. 

Mrs. B. lived till within the present year, 1876, and du- 
ring fall of 1875 paid a visit to Pompey, enjoying for the 
last time the scenes of her childhood's home. 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 409 

Gould Cutler Avas born in Pompey, lived many years in 
Onondaga Co., as an active business man — married Bathia 
Dodge. They had three children, Charles D., Caroline 
and Charlotte. He removed to Springfield, 111., where he 
resided till May, 1849, when, in company with 20 others, he 
started " Over Land" for California. While crossing the 
Plains was taken ill ot cholera, and died, May 16, 1849. 

His wife survived him a number of years, and till about 
the year 1854. 

Louisa Butler was born in Pompe}-. In 1825 was mar- 
ried to Ella W. Boss. About the year 1837 they moved to 
Fabius, where they have since resided. They have six chil- 
dren now living. The oldest, Henry W., is an artist, whose 
work is second to few in the profession. He, with four 
brothers and one sister, resides in Binghamton. Helen 
M., wife of J. Halloday, resides in Pompey. 

Maria D. Butler was boi*n in Pompey, Oct. 29, 1826, was 
married to Chas. E. Webb, who worked at w^agon making 
in Pompey village, for over 40 3-ear8. They now reside in 
Syracuse; they have had six children, four now living ; two 
lie buried at Pompey. Franklin H. has been since 1847 
a resident of Hudson, N. Y., is now, and has been for man}' 
years editor and publisher of a weekly jtaper. Chas. E. 
married Miss Julia A. Bishop, of Pompey, is a carpenter, 
residing in Syracuse. Fannie married Mr. John Cadwell, I 
of Fabius, and now resides in AVcstern part of this State. 
James H. till recently lived in Syracuse. 

Jesse S. Butler was born in Pompey. He was engaged 
as a merchant in Syracuse for many years. As a stirring 
business man he has few equals. He married Miss Amanda 
Bottom, of Syracuse, in which city he now lives. His chil- 
dren are William, Sandi, wife of Mr. Alfred Luther, and 
George AV. The first two named residing in Syracuse. 
The last named died in the year 1870. 



JOSIAII BIGELOW. 

The subject of tliis notice was a native of the town of IIo!- 



410 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

den, Mass., and when quite young emigrated to the town of 
Guilford, Vt. He was born in 1755, and married Sarah Cul- 
ver, of Guilford, by whom he had six sons and three daugh- 
ters. They came to Pompey in 1800, arriving on the 10th 
day of March. Mr. Bigelow had purchased of Samuel Beo- 
be, of New York, five hundred and ninety acres of land op- 
posite the Richard Hiscock place, which was the birth place 
and early home of L. Harris Hiscock and Frank Hiscock, 
who became distinguished lawyers in S^'racuse, and of their 
brothers, Horace and Charles Hiscock. Mr. Bigelow, with 
his older boys, immediately commenced to fall the stately 
forest, and in three years they cleared one hundred acres of 
heavy timbered land. Up to 1803 all was prosperous, but 
that year w^as noted for the prevalence of the long fever. 
Most of Mr. B.'s family liad it, and he died with it, Dec. 17, 
1803. Mrs. Bigelow survived her liusband only three years. 
Then comes a period of sad memories. to the surviving mem- 
bers of the family. The time had come when brothers and 
sisters must separate — leave the paternal home and go among 
strangers. Soon they were where broad rivers and lakes 
rolled between them. Jacob Bigelow went to Concord, 
Mich., and Josiah to Massachusetts, and other members of 
the family were equally separated. Dr. Bigelow of Syracuse, 
wlio married a daughter of William Williams, formerly of 
Pompey, near Oran, is a descendant of this familv. 



DANIEL GOTT. 

Although his name is incidentally mentioned in this vol- 
ume in several places, this book would fail to meet the ex- 
pectations of the public, without a biographical sketch of 
Daniel Gott. For so many years of his brilliant life was he 
identified with the history, growth and prosperity of Pom- 
pey, that he and his family occupy a large place in the mem- 
ory and affections of the people. He was born July 10th, 
1794, at Hebron, Ct., and died July 6th, 18G4, at Syracuse. 
Within the measure of those years he acquired wealth, dis- 
tinction and fame, and his memory will grow In'ighter as the 




^^-(^^^^^ 



•■1 

i 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 411 

years roll round and the asperities of life's conflicts are for- 
gotten. His early education was limited only to enjoying- 
the advantages which the common schools of his native town 
afforded. At the age of sixteen he commenced teachings 
which he continued up to and including the first years of 
his residence in Pompey, having taught in the West room 
of the old Pompey Academy. At the age of nineteen he 
thought to learn the Clothiers trade, and for that purpose 
entered the service of his uncle, Ebenezer Snow. This not 
heing congenial to his taste, he soon entered the office of 
Lawyer Gilbert of Hebron, Ct, and commenced the study 
ot the law. About the year 1812 he visted his uncle, Elihu 
Barber, in Pompey. It was probably then that he resolved 
to make Pompey his future home, and in 1817 he located 
permanently on the Hill and continued his studies with 
Daniel Wood, and after his admission to practice became- 
the law partner of Samuel Baldwin, who afterwards located 
at Pompey West Hill, now LaFayette. On the 12th day of 
Sept., 1819, he was united in marriage to the widow of Ste- 
phen Sedgwick, of Pompey, a brilliant genius and eminent 
lawyer. Her maiden name was Ann Baldwin, a sister of 
Samuel and Charles Baldwin, a lady of large scholastic at- 
tainments and fine literary taste. By this union Mr. Gott 
also became the foster father of Henry J., John and Claries 
B. Sedgwick, the second of whom died when a youth. Charles 
B. Sedgwick and Henry J. Sedgwick both lived to become 
eminent lawyers, and they have both held high and respon- 
sil>le positions in the State and iSTation. Henry J. was a 
State Senator from 1844 to 1848, and Post Master at Syra- 
cuse under Buchanan's administration. Charles B. wa^ 
member of Congress for two terms, from 1859 to 1863, and 
has acquired a brilliant record as a lawyer. Charles B. is 
the only survivor of three brothers, and his residence is in 
Syracuse. 

Thus we find Mr. Gott at the age of twenty-five, with the 
care and responsibilities of a family devolved upon him and 
he assiduously applied his energies to the practice of his 



472 

THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 



1^ wl ^''"^''°* physically and mentally a man of 

the v,!! T ^™" '^'^ '■''" "'^"'"^ ""'" <■»"«. ""d ™ade him 
tended ° ,"' "^r'""' '''''''' ^P^"-'' Sibley and ex- 

York T ^i«T.? *^°"-"'' *''" <"^"'™' Counties of New 
l^ork. In 1828 he became afflicted with sore eyes, which 
^enously ,mpa,red his usefulness for about twelve ye^r^ It 
hmes so severe was this affliction, that he was obli=-ed to 

Ind el n ;t ''"'' ''''"''™ ™™>°'-^ ""'"^ to his rescue, 
and enabled h,m at times to continue in business that other 
« se he m»t have abandoned. I„ 1840 he became „ 
nently cured, and h,s practice continued toincreasetill 1846 
iTeM'hvo ""' "'f'^ '^ "'""""='■ °f ^'"'"?^'^-- -Weh office he' 

autLTo, ^r'r ' '"'T- ^''™ '" •^""S-- he was the 
auhor of the famous " Gott Eesolution" for the abolition 
of the slave trade in the District of Columbia. In 1851 he 
was nominated by the ^yhigs for- Justice- of the Supreme 
Court, and was defeated by Hon. Daniel Pratt, by a larl y 
educed majority. I„ 1844 he was on the Electoral t fkel 

resided till h s death, continuing the practice of the law in 

aw school of Pompey, and with the solicitude of a father 
he watched the progress of the numerous students who 
gh liis instruction, and prompted by his genial and 
kind nature, and remembering the obstaces that he had 
encountered and overcome, he was ever ready to counse 
a<Ime and encourage. Among the large number of "ifted 
and eminent men who entered the legal profession fr<mi his 
ofi.ce were Seabred Dodge, Charles Mason, John U. Pettif- 

Geo II. Williams, LeRoy Morgan, L. Ik Iliscock, Charles 
ioster, and these and all others who ,vere students in his 
othce bear concnrront testimony to his kindness and anxious 
solicitude for (heir honor and wol&re. Durii,. his resi 






^ 



^ 



t^^^Z'-L^ 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 413 

deuce iu Pompey, he was trustee of the Academy for many 
years, always lahornig for its prosperity. He was a con- 
stant attendant of the Presbyterian church. 

His children in the order of their ages, v\ ore Sackett, Aiin^ 
Amelia and Daniel F. The two eldest are dead. Sacket 
was never married, Ann married Hon. Geo. II. Woodruff,, 
a graduate of Hamilton College, and a lawyer and writer of 
distinction of Joliet, Ills. He and one child survive. Daniel 
F. graduated from Hamilton College in the class of 1849, 
became the law partner of his father in Syracuse, married 
Sarah Clary, a daughter of the late Dr. Lyman Clary, of Sy- 
racuse, is Register in Bankruptcy, to which he was appoint- 
ed in 1867. Amelia married Frank II. Hastings, a nursery- 
man of Rochester, iST. Y. They have three children. 



MORGAN. 

LeRoy Morgan was the eldest son of Lyman Morgan, a far- 
mer and one of the pioneers in the early settlement of Pom- 
pey, where he died Februarv 24, 1864, universally respect- 
ed for his consistent and upright life. Living about two and 
a half miles from the Academy, to the endowment of which 
he was an early contributor, his son LeRoy took every avail- 
able occasion to attend this celebrated pioneer institution 
and from it he graduated in 1830, atthe age of twenty, hav- 
ing been born in Pompej^ Marcli 27tli, 1810. At the age 
of eighteen he taught school in Volney, Oswego Co., at a 
compensation ot $13 per month. The next year he taught 
in Delphi, in Pompe}', where he became acquainted with 
Miss Elizabeth C. Slocum, a daughter of Mathew B. Slo- 
cum, and sister of Gen. Henry W. Slocum, whom he mar- 
ried in 1832. He also taught school in the Wells District 
and the Murray District in Pompey, in tlie years 1830 and 
1831. Thus by his own labor he educated himself, teaching 
winters and attending the Academy summers. In 1830 he 
commenced the study of the law in the celebrated Law office 
of the late Hon. Daniel Gott, and Hon. Amasa Jerome, af- 



414 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

terwards Judge of the Common Pleas and Surrogate of On- 
ondaga Count}', also a native of Pompey, was his fellow stu- 
dent. There were also three other students in the same of- 
iice, E. A. Baldwin, Q. O. Andrus, and the late Hon. H. J. 
Sedgwick. Remaining with Mr. Gott till 1831, he entered 
the office of Hon. S. L. Edwards, in Manlius, and there con- 
tinued his studies till he was admitted to practice in the 
■" Old Common Pleas" in 1832. The next year he was ad- 
mitted to practice in the Supreme Court. In 1839 he locat- 
ed in Baldwinsville, where he continued in the practice of 
liis profession till 1851. In 1843 he received the appoint- 
ment of District Attorney of Onondaga County, which of- 
iice he held with the exception of a few weeks, till the new 
■constitution came into operation in 1848. 

In 1851 he came to Syracuse to reside, and formed a Law 
partnership with the late Hon. D. D. Hillis, and tliis con- 
tinued until the death of Mr. Hillis, which occurred in 1859. 
In the fall of the latter year Mr. Morgan was elected a Jus- 
tice of the Supreme Court for the term of eight years, and 
at the expiration of his term was re-elected without opposi- 
tion. He still resides in Syracuse. 



DR, JEHIAL STEARNS. 

Jehial Stearns was born in Rockingham, Vt., February 
'6th, 1790. His father was William Stearns, a respectable 
farmer, and a soldier of the revolution. From pecuniary 
•considerations his early education was limited. At the age of 
sixteen he commenced his academic studies in Charlestown, 
IN". H., and subsequently acquired the Latin language under 
various competent teachers. In 1809 he commenced the 
■study of medicine under the direction of Dr. Oliver Hast- 
ings, a celebrated physician of Charleston, N". H. In 1811 
was his first attendance of lectures at Dartmouth College, 
under Dr. Nathan Smith, Having graduated with honor, 
,he located as a physician and surgeon in the town of Essex, 
Essex Co., N. Y., where he enjoyed a good degree of pub- 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 415 

lie patronage. In January, 1815, he came to Pompoy, On- 
ondaga Co., ]Sr. Y., where he was kindly and cordially 
received, and the growing town being in need of a physician, 
he was invited to remain, and he concluded to make Pom- 
pey his future home. Dr. Stearns ardently loved the prac- 
tice as well as the science ot his professioi], and by his as- 
siduous devotion to its duties, his courteous manners and 
more than all his kind and ready sympathy for his suffering 
patients, he soon won reputation and success. He was never 
ambitious to be called a money making doctor, but consid- 
ered his profession rather a charitable calling. His circle of 
practice if not so large as some of his compeers, was ellio-j- 
ble and remunerative. Among the cotemporaries of I)r. S, 
in the profession, and who were likewise his friends, were 
Drs. Granger, \Vm. Taylor, D. Denison, Upson H. B. Moore 
and others, whose professional standing was of a high order, 
and it is not too much to say that he was the equal of any 
of them. 

Dr. Stearns had some experience in the war of 1812, and 
acquired skill and a taste for the practice of surgery, and 
this branch of his profession he made rather a specialty in 
his practice with a high degree of success, not only as an 
operator, but in exhibiting singular judgment in knowing 
where to operate. In 1822 he received the appointment of 
Surgeon of the 08th regiment of Infjintry, under De Witt 
Clinton, Governor of New York, which he resigned Oct. 9th, 
1830, united with the Onondaga Medical Society in 1817, 
of which he is a still a member, having served one term as 
its President, and one term of four years as delegate to the 
State Society. In 1826 he was elected Vice-President of 
the Onondaga Co. Medical Society. In 1839, January 21st, 
lie Vv^as constituted Honorary member of the Medical Socie- 
ty of Geneva College, and by that College the Degree of ]M. 
D. was conferred upon him the same year. In 1840 the 
Cortland County Medical Society elected him an Honorary 
member, and in 1868 he became a member of the Ononda- 
ga County Historical Association. For many years he was 



416 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

an efficient and useful trustee of Pompey Academy, and is a 
member of tlie Presbyterian church at Pompey, with whicli 
he became connected soon after he came to Pompey, and in 
the prosperity of which he has always evinced a lively in- 
terest. On the 22d day of January, 1816, he was married to 
Nancy Ilascall, a sister of IIoii. Ralph Ilascall, M. C, and of 
Rev. Daniel Ilascall, who was a Baptist cleri:;ynian, and 
iounder of the Madison University. She died July 11, 1856, 
and for a second wife, Dr. S. married May 9th, 1860, Serep- 
ta S. Shattuck, a daughter of Chester Shattuck, a pioneer 
of Pompey, and brother of Jo^jcph Shattuck, whose biogra- 
phy is herein recorded. By his tirstwife he had two chil- 
dren, J. Ilascall Stearns and Cornelia B. Stearns. The for- 
mer was a pioneer Californian, and is a resident of San 
FranciscOjbut he has never forgotten his early home to which 
he pays his annual visits during the delightful summers of 
the old Hills, as regular as the seasons roll round. He is a 
bachelor, and not comnmnicative as to his wealth, but their 
is little doubt that fortune has favored him to that extent 
that he might well aftbrd to support a larger family. 

Cornelia B. Stearns married Hon. John W. Dwindle, of 
San Francisco, California. She died Oct. 25th, 1873, leav- 
ing her husband surviving her, and five children. In the 
order of their ages the children are, Ella C, the wife of Chas. 
Pond, of Providence, R. I. Anna Louisa, of San Francisco, 
Charles H., a graduate of Harvard College, largely engaged 
in agricultural pursuits. Herman, now a student in Cali- 
fornia College, and Florence, with her father in San Fran- 
cisco. Mr. Dwindle has been mayor of San Francisco, a 
member of the California Legislature, a lawyer of distinc- 
tion and eminent ability, and a gentleman and author of 
high literary taste. 

Dr. Stearns at the age of eighty-six still survives — a resi- 
dent of Pompey Hill, and to a remarkable degree in the en- 
joyment of both his physical and mental faculties. Al- 
though nominally he has abandoned the practice of his pro- 




i 



.-4^/^ 



//^-d/'^^'^^^^^(^, <y^c^a^ ^^^jg:^M^^^^[ 



s<t^«^' /-ff Q/CM^^.-^^ 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 417 

fession, he is often called to administer to the necessities of 
the afflicted. 



HEZEKIAH W. STEVENS. 
Hezekiah W. Stevens was born at Killing worth, Connec- 
ticut, in 1793. He came to Pompey in 1810, looking for a 
place to locate in the cabinet and chair business. He was a 
first-class mechanic, and was induced by Henry Seymour, 
Moses S. Marsh and others, to establish himself there. His 
first shop was located nearly opposite the Dr. Tibbals house. 
He was married by licv. Jabez Chadwick, at the house of 
Henry Seymour, to Lois Field, who came to Pompey from 
Jericho, Vermont, and boarded several years in the families 
of Henry Seymour and Nathaniel Baker. They lived three 
years in the small house still standing opposite the Dr. Tib- 
bals house, and afterwards built and occupied the house and 
shop between the Presbyterian church and Col. Hezekiah 
Hopkins' tavern. He was a man of excellent taste, success- 
ful in business, and manj^ of the young married people 
received their " setting out" at his ware-rooms. Many 
pieces of furniture of his make are still to be seen in the old 
residences of the town. He was injured at the burning of 
Merit Butler's blacksmith shop, and died the following year, 
in January, 1828, at the age of 37. When Merit Butler had 
constructed the vane for the Presbyterian church steeple, 
Mr. Stevens covered it with gold leaf so thoroughly, that 
for sixty years it has glistened in the sunbeams, and it has 
been said their work stands higher than that of any of their 
successors. Henry Stevens, brother of Hezekiah, was at 
one time in the partnership with him. He married Phena 
Jerome, sister of Ira and John C. Jerome, and subsequently 
removed to Fabius, where he died, leaving several children, 
the only survivor being Mrs. Ann Wheaton, now residing 
there. 

Hezekiah's widow with her second husband, Wm. C. 
Hendricks, and three sons, William II., Charles W. and 
Richard F., continued to occupy the family residence north 

27 



418 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

of tlie church for many years. The house was sold to Geo. 
Merrell, and Mr. Hendricks and wife removed to the west. 
She died in 1853, at Elkhart, Indiana, and was buried in the 
family lot at Pompey. Mr. Ilendricks subsequently mar- 
ried Emily Gould, of Jamesville, and now resides at Elk- 
hart. 

"Wm. II. Stevens married Ann 11. Bishop, who died at 
Bulfalo, in 1852, and was buried in the family lot of her 
father near Oswego. He has resided sixteen years in the 
city of l^ew York, engaged in the manufacture of parlor or- 
gans. One of his three children survives — Richard H. Stev- 
ens, residing in New York, engaged in the stationery trade. 

Charles W. Stevens married Susan Dillon, at St. Louis, 
Missouri. He has resided in that city since 1840, engaged 
in the practice of medicine, and filled the Professorship of 
Anatomy twenty-four years in the Medical College. He 
was several years Superintendent of the St. Louis Insane 
Asylum. The}' have two sons, Frank H. and Charles D. 
Stevens. 

Richard F. Stevens married Esther Prentiss in 1844, at 
St. Louis, where he resided several years engaged in the 
practice of medicine. He subsequently resided in Syracuse, 
N. Y., where his wife died in 1872, since which he has re- 
sided in the city of New York, and holds the office of Col- 
lector of City Revenue. 

Of four children one survives, Jennie P. Stevens, now 
engaged in the study of medicine in the Woman's Medical 
Collesre of New \ork citv. 




i li^alsii, 



The influence of the re-union has been seen and felt in 
various wa^-s since it occurred. It has given the town 
a notoriety and popularity not hitherto enjoyed. Every 
year since 1871, during the oppressively hot summer days, 
Pompey Hill has become the resort of those seeking pleas- 
ure and repose from the dust, heat and inconveniences of 
city life. Every year the number who seek its healthful 
heights increases. 

The benefits of the Academy to the past generations of 
Pompey so plainly exemplified on that occasioli, have creat- 
ed a sympathy in behalf of the venerable institution, and 
more closely endeared it to the citizens of Pompey, so that 
efforts are continually being made for its prosperity. Fes- 
tivals and other means have been resorted to for the pur- 
pose of raising money to make needful repairs. Upon one 
occasion when an "Old Folk's Concert" w\as being held, Au- 
gust 21st, 1874, for the benefit of the Academy, William H. 
Stevens, Esq., of ISTe^v York, unexpectedly came to town 
bearing a present to the Academy trustees of a miniature 
fac simile of the " Old Academy building." Taking ad- 
vantage of the occasion the presentation was made at the 
concert, the following notice of which appeared in the Sy- 
racuse daily papers. 

" On Friday evening, Aug. 21st, 1874, was a concert for the 
benefit of Pompey Academy. The entertainment was large- 



420 THE rOMPEY KE-UNION. 

]y attended by the citizens of Pompey, and very many stran- 
gers who are here enjoying the rural pleasures of the coun- 
try at this delightful season of the year. Among the dis- 
tino-uished visitors from abroad were Dr. Charles W. Stev- 
ens, of St. Louis, Mo., Charles Hayden, Esq., of Rochester, 
N. Y., Wm. H. Stevens, Esq., of New York, and Mrs. Char- 
lotte Beardslee, of Syracuse, one of the pioneer teachers in 
the early days of Pompey. An interesting episode occurred 
at the conclusion of the first part. Wm. H. Stevens, Esq., 
of New York, was present at the Re-union in Pompey, June 
29th 1871, and upon that occasion hearing much &aid in 
reference to the old academy building which was torn down 
in 1834, to give place to the present structure, he conceived 
the idea of constructing a miniature fac-simile of the old 
building from memory. He was among the number who 
had been educated within its sacred walls. And drawing 
upon the recollections of his school boy days, he had finished 
his model and happened to return to his early home the very 
day the concert was to take place, bringing with him the 
miniature building as a gift to the present board of trustees. 
At the conclusion of the first part of the concert the trustees 
of the Academy were invited to take their place upon the 
stao-e, the audience and some of them not knowing for what 
purpose. They stood in the form of a semi-circle, in the cen- 
ter of which upon a stand, Mr. E. Butler, of Whitehall, N. 
Y., a native of Pompey, soon placed the gift. Mr. Stevens 
also stood upon the stage. Around and behind them stood 
the singers in the costume of one hundred years ago. Mr. 
Butler then in behalf of Mr. Stevens, made the following 
presentation speech : — 

Gentlemen : I appear before you to-night, honored with 
a pleasing part of this evening's entertainment. I have be- 
fore me a model of the " Old Pompey Academy" building, 
which was erected in 1801; within whose walls during more 
than a third of a century, were educated, perhaps, more men 
who have lived and become famous as governors, legislators, 
judges, lawyers, physicians, generals of the army, ministers 



THE POMPEY ..RE-UNION. 421 

of the gospel, missionaries to .jforeign climes, poets, orators 
and eminent civilians, than any. other similar institution in 
this or any other State. Three years ago when was held on 
yonder " green" the grand re-union of the sons and daugh- 
ters of Pompey, when they came from far and near to meet 
again at the old home hearth-stone as they grasped the hand 
of cherished friends, you remember how .the old academy 
was the central theme of every conversation. Around it 
clustered the pleasant memories and reminiscences of the 
past; to it they turned with the fond eye of memory, and 
beheld anew the classic walls, paying to it a deference akin 
to adoration. Among the number who that day met with 
us and enjoyed the festive occasion was one who on his re- 
turn to his home in New York, resolved irom memory to 
reproduce in miniature, the old structure entire. He has 
during his leisure moments labored upon it, and to-day as 
he returns again to visit the home of his boyhood, does he 
bring with him this memento, and as others have in words 
.80 feelingly dedicated their aftection to this institution, so he 
now dedicates this the offspring of his handiwork. In the 
name of our former tow^nsman, Mr. Wm. H. Stevens, of New 
York, the architect and builder of this fac-simile of the old 
Academy building, I do now* present this gift, asking that it 
remain in the archives of your institution so long as Pom- 
pey Academy shall exist, and it in the future it shall happen, 
as happen it may, that the organization as now existing shall 
cease, it is his wish that you or your successors shall pre- 
sent it to the Onondaga County Historical Association. 
Please accept as the offering of the devoted love of a noble 
heart to its cherished Alma Mater. 

Mr. Stevens then explained the construction of the model, 
after which Wm. W. VanBrocklin, Esq., responded as fol- 
lows : 

Mr. Stevens : — In behalf of the trustees of Pompey Acad- 
emy and in behalf of this entire community, whose interests 
in this institution it is their duty to cherish and protect, I re- 
turn you most sincere and heartfelt thanks for this beautiful 



422 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

gift eo suggestive oftlie thousand golden memories of the 
" olden time." And to you Mr. Butler, I return thanks for 
the appropriate and feeling language you have been enabled 
to use in the presentation of this perfect model of the old 
Academy building, and for the stirring memories you have 
awakened of the transcendent blessings and benefits which 
have resulted from the establishment of this institution to 
the early settlers of Pompey and their descendants. 

But above all, we give thanks to our God, the great pre- 
server and benefactor of humanity, whose Providence has 
so unexpectedly dropped down among us our former towns- 
man on this interesting occasion, bringing this priceless gift 
appearing at this opportune time, when an old folks concert 
is in progress for the benefit of that institution, whose first 
edifice is here reproduced in miniature from memory ; and 
our thanks are further due to the great architect of the uni- 
verse, for the gift of memory, that has enabled you my 
brother so faithfully and vividly to call up from the store- 
house of your memory all the details and minute peculiari- 
ties that <iharacterized those classic halls whose walls echoed 
to the tread of a Dodge, a Mason, a Marsh and a Seymour, 
enabling you to construct it with that artistic skill that chal- 
lenges the admiration and gratitude of all acquainted with 
the old building, who have had the good fortune to examine 
this. So perfect is it, that I understand the Hon. Luther R. 
Marsh said when admiring its just proportions and elabo- 
rate finish, that the only thing lacking, was the birchen rod 
of the venerable Joshua Leonard. I confess that language- 
is too poor to express the thoughts and emotions that crowd 
upon my mind in viewing this memento of the past. The 
emotional sentiments which the occasions calls up are of kin 
to those inspired by the beautiful lines of the enraptured 
poet. 

" How dear to my heart are the scenes of my childhood, 
When fond recollection presents them to view 
The orchard, the meadow, the deep-tangled wild wood„ 
And every loved spot which my infancy knew." 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 423 

And those other immortal lines around which cluster a 
thousand fonder and dearer memories. 

" I love it, I love it, and who shall dare 
To chide me for loving that old arm chair. 
Have you learned the spell a mother sat there, 
And a sacred thing was that old arm chair." 

The lessons too, which this event teaches, are of the most 
important character, and among them I ma}' name the last- 
ing impressions and unfading memories ot our early life. If 
our brother can in this matchless little building, so vividly 
portray all the lineaments of the school-room where forty 
years ago he spent the happy hours of life's bright morning, 
how important that in the youthful mind be instilled those 
principles of righteousness, truth, temperance, virtue and 
integrity that shall make the child through all the future 
years of life feel strong to resist the temptations that are scat- 
tered all along the pathway' of life. For, rest assured, temp- 
tation will assail us through all the coming years, until the 
dawn of eternity shall appear. 

Thanking you again for this priceless treasure, which we 
will ever cherish in. our inmost heart, with the kindest feel- 
ing of respect for the donor, we wish you prosperity and joy 
through all the coming years of life, and unalloyed happiness 
through all the boundless cycles ot eternity. 



Since the re-union, frequent notices of the healthful clime 
and beautiful scenery of Pompey have appeared in the news- 
papers. From among the number we clip the following 
beautiful poem, which some time after the re-union, ap- 
peared in one of the Syracuse papers. 

TO POMPEY. 

All day in fancy I have seen 
Thy green clad hills, vast and eternal, 
O'er looking all the vale between, 
And rising toward the skies supernal. 



424 THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 

All day I've roamed thy woodlands o'er, 
And seen with fancy's glowing vision 
Thy quiet streets, and fields so fair, 
Fairer to me than fields Elysian. 

Below thee in the distance seen, 
The city's spires are brightly gleaming, 
The whirr and clang of busy life 
Within its crowded streets are teeming ; 
But tho' old hills upreared so high. 
Escape the city's din and'clashing, 
The few within thy cool retreats 
Enjoy the long, bright days now passing. 

A happy home is mine beside 
Oswego's brightly flowing river, 
Yet, will my heart e'er yearn for thee, 
My childhood's home, for aye and ever, 
I tire of all this flat lowland, 
I long for thy dear lights and shadows, 
I want to climb thy rugged hills 
And wander in thy quiet meadows. 

I want to gaze upon thy scenes. 

In Autumn's light serene, and mellow. 

And watch thy graceful waving trees, 

All beautiful, though sere and yellow. 

But ah, for me, it may not be, 

What need is there to murmur longer, 

My feet must wander far away, 

E'en while my love for thee grows stronger. 

And I may roam in other lands, 
May cross the deep and boundless ocean, 
My heart shall ne'er forget that love, 
While life its pulses keep in motion. 
And oh, when all life's cares are o'er. 
And swift from me is memory flying, 
Old Pompey may thy hills arise, 
To greet my eyes when I am dying. 

Sicily Sprague. 



I 






|f II|S |fpMalloii of tl|i |i4Rl6S, 



In addition to the officers and committees whose names 
appears in the foregoing pages, mention should have been 
made of the marshal of the day and his assistants, whose 
duties were very laborious, and discharged Avith a skill and 
promptness which commanded tjbe approbation of all. 

The marshal was M. R. Dyer, and his assistants Samuel 
W. Jerome, Moses T. Robinson, Dwight Kershaw, Wm. J. 
Mason and Fred. A. M. Ball. The following additional 
names appear upon the programme published at the time, 
who Avere on the Committee of Arrangements : Chas. W. H. 
Wood, S. S. VV alley, Geo. Hopkins, Geo. R. Vail, Rodney 
Hill and 1). G. Southard, and the following on the Commit- 
tee of Reception : J. R. Fenner, Wilfred M. Scoville, Bron- 
son Clarke and John P. Robinson. 

The following named ladies and gentlemen were omitted, 
who deserve to be remembered for untiring eiforts in the 
preparations for the day. Wakeman G. Sprague, who was 
charged with making all necessary purchases in Syracuse, 
E. S. Dawson wlio was treasurer of the Re-Union fund, Mrs. 
Henry S. Doolett, Mrs, Jane E. O'Donaghey and Mrs. Wm. 
W. Van Brockliii, who were on committee to prepare re- 
freshment-^, to make decorations and to arrange the tables. 



I 



CONCLUSION. 



Having finally had charge of the publication of this vol 
ume, I esteem it a privilege and feel it a duty that I owe to 
the publication committee, to write a few explanatory words 
in conclusion. It will be observed that many biographical 
sketches are wanting to make the volume complete. Among 
the number omitted maybe mentioned the Jeromes, Judds, 
Murrays, Marshes, N'ewmans, Northrups, Duguids, Can- 
dees, Woods, Woodfords, Hiscocks, Blowers, Loseys and 
many others, from whom have arisen distinguished and emi- 
nent citizens, mention of whom would be fully sufficient to 
fill another volume of the size of this. For this the com- 
mittee are not at fault, as over folir years ago, public notice 
was repeatedly given through "The Press," of the work in 
contemplation, and asking for contributions of sketches; 
moreover I have personally sought and importuned many 
to furnish sketches or at least the data, to enable me to 
write them up. It will not be overlooked, I trust, that the 
labor of the committee has been arduous and unremunera- i 

tive. At one time it was a question whether the work would | 

ever be accomplished, and it doubtless would have been I 

given up had not Gov. Seymour and Hon. VVm. G. Fargo 
generously come to our assistance with material aid. It 
will be noticed also that the directory promised has been 
omitted. This is an intentional omission to avoid too large 
a volume for our resources. The embelishments are fur- 
nished by those whose lithographs adorn the Avork or by 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 



42T 



their friends. The old Academy, together with the inside 
view are from the fac simile made by Wm. H. Stevens, of 
New York, and but for his conception, would have been 
lost to history. It is to be hoped that the disadvantages 
under which we have labored, will avoid many criticisms 
which under other circumstances might be justly indulged. 

WM. W, VANBROCKLIN. 

Porapey, June 17, 1876. 



6hlTUARf. 

THOMAS ATWATER JEROME. 
Thomas Atwater Jero-me, whose city home was at 
No. 215 West Fifty-flrst-st., died from acute gas- 
tritis yesterday at New-iBrlg-hton, Staten Island, 
where he was spending the summer with his 
family. He had been in .poor <healtl^_ for aliout 
twelve months. Mr. Jerome was born at Pompey 
Hill, Onondaga County, this State, eighty-seven 
years ago, and was a son of Isaac Jerome, a 
farmer, who was an early settler at that place. 
He was the sole survivor of nine sons, his brothers 
being Allen, Aaron, Addison G., Leonard W., Law- 
rence R., Isaac, Chauncey and Charles Jerome. He 
was an uncle of Judge William Travers Jeroime, of 
the Court of Special ©essions, whose father was 
Lawrence. R. Jerome. 'Bis first business experience, 
after having been educated in the village school of 
his native to-wn, was as a partner in the old trans- 
portation firm of Nottingham & Jerome, at Albanv. 
About thirty-five years ago he moved to Locust 
Valley, Long Island, where he bought a farm, which 
he conducted for .several years. Afterward he was 
appointed to a place in the New-York Custom 
House, where he remained until about four years 
ago, when ho retired from active life. Pifty-elg^it 
years ago he married Miss Emma Vanderbilt, of 
thi.s city, whose father, a graduate of Yale, was 
once governor of Blackweil's Island. Thev had ten 
children, most of whom survive. One of his daugh- 
ters is the wife of Olarence G. Oinsmore, a son of 
William B. Dinsmore, of the Adams Express Oom- 
pany. Another, who is now dead, was the wife of 
Harry Alexandre, of the Alexandre Steamship Line 
to Havana and Mexico. He had seen seven genera- 
tions of his family, and leaves a large num<ber of 
relatives, including several grandchUdfen and greal- 
granddhildren. The funeral arrangements have 
not yet been announced. _ -. \- T ' ""-■ '^ -■,■'. 



CONTENTS. 



SUBJECT. 

Preface . 

o 

Account of Measures that resulted in the Re-union 7 

The Re-union Day _ jo 

Address of Welcome 1 - 

Response _ 9^ 

Reminiscences of Ponipey _ o- 

Address of Geo. H. Williams ^q^ 

Address of Luther R. Marsh _ 42 

Response to the toast, "The old Townof Pompey" '_'_ 59 

Toast, "Fair daughters of Pompey" '""' Q^^ 

Toast, "The American members of the Joint High Commission 71 

Pompey Academy . -o 

Address of John F. Seymour y^ 

Address of Daniel J. Fort _ _ -g 

Address of Charles W. Stevens _ _ 81 

Address of F. W, Fenner , or 

Poem of H. D. L. Sweet _ _ gn 

Addre.ss of Geo. H. Jerome go 

Satement of Richard F. Stevens 90 

Address of W. W. VanBrocklin "--_.'. ^.'^ 91 

Evening Meeting _ qc 

Introductory Remarks 00 

Poem by Flora Butterfield 200 

Remarks of William Barnes jaa 

Incidents _ i^. 

Poem by H. A. Billings __ jqo 

Letter from Edwin C. Litchfield ]Q5 

Letter from Henry W. Slocum jQg 

J^etter from R. S. Orvis ja- 

Letter from Esther Dorwin CIai)p 107 

Letter from Jared F. Ostrander Uj 

J^etter from Rowena M. Ostrander II4 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 430 

Letter from Sfinford Thayer 118 

Letter from Charles Mason 118 

Letter from Harvey Sheldon 129 

Letter from Orris Barnes 131 

Letter from Charles A. Baker 132 

Letter from Hiram K. Jerome 133 

Letter from Lucien Birdseye 133 

History of Pompey Academj' 138 

History of Pompey 174 

Cxeographical feature 174 

Pompey Hill and Vicinity 178 

Disciples of Christ 197 

LaFayette : 201 

Delphi 205 

AVatervale --211 

MiUtary Tract 213 

Town Meetings 235 

Supervisors and Town Clerks 246 

Episcopal Church, Subscription at Clapp's Corners 248 

Attendance at School No. 3, Pompey, 1800 249 

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

Dr. Edward Aiken 251 

Anderson Family 251 

Avery Family ,-. 253 

.Sylvanus and Artemus Bishop 259 

Elizur Brace — 263 

Ball Family— — 267 

Joseph Baker 269 

Benson 270 

Ebenezer Butler, Sr 271 

Victory Birdseye 273 

Barber Family 283 

Reubin Billings -.1- 286 

Elias Conklin ._.•-:_-.:___ 288 

Samuel Clement 289 

Henry Clarke 291 

Clarke Family -< 291 

Paul Clapp 295 

John J. Deming 296 

Dodge Family 296 

Dunham Family 301 

Fenner Family 302 

Flint and Rice Families 304 

Jos. W. and Mrs. Rhoda Gold, 309 

David Green 310 

Caleb Green 310 

Daniel Gilbert 311 



THE POMPEY RE-UNION. 43j 

Hayden Family 

Pelatiah Hayden and descendan'ts'" ^^^ 

Hinsdell Family ___ 317 

David Hibbard ...". -318 

Hezekiah Hopkins ~""~ 321 

Ensign Hill I-.^"^]^ 321 

Josiah Holbrook ~~/'^~ 322 

•^Jonas Hinman _ 324 

Daniel Knapp ^^_^^ 32Z 

Joshua Leonard _ 328 

Luther Marsh _ 321) 

Noah Palmer —. — i.l. 332 

Dr. Silas Park '_"_ 334 

L. H. Pitcher "-""'~'^^" '" 334 

Manoah Pratt, Sr., and Family ^37 

Millard Robinson ^ 341 

John Smith _ " "_* 347 

Thos. D. Safford --""'!_''" 347 

Joseph Shattuck "[_ 3c0 

Sweets " 350 

John Todd l~_ 352 

Samuel Talbot "~~ ~^" 36(» 

Elijah Wells ""_ 360 

Edward AVicks 363 

Daniel Wright 365 

Augustus Wheaton ' 367 

Tabor D. Williams --.'"""'"" ^^" 

Fargo Family "' 372 

Van Brocklin Family. :. 373 

David Williams ' _ _ 'J 387 

AsaAVells 1--L^~"_ " " 390 

Henry Seymour 390 

Horatio Seymour 392 

Henry W. DePuy ^ ~~ 394 

Oran ^- 395 

Reminiscences _ _J 397 

Jesse Butler ^'^3 

Josiah Bigelow _ __ '^^'^ 

Daniel Gott --------^'."""T" ^^^'- 

LeRoy Morgan "_ ■^10 

Jehial Stearns "*^'* 

Hezekiah W. Stevens — l_ '^^'^ 

Of Incidents the outgrowth of the'lle-UnTon " ^]l 

Of the Organization _ '" '^'"^ 

Conclusion _ "^--^ 

_^_^^ 



\ I 



ERRATA. 



At page IS, line 11 for transcendant, read transcendent. 

At page 19, line 12 for salutory read salntary. 

At page 22, line 8 for censtantly read constantly. 

At page 25, line 25 for Mrs. P. P. Miller read Mrs. P. P. Midler. 

At page 29, line 29 for gra]) read grasp. 

At page 34, line 10 and 11 for Hepey Beeber read Hepsey Beebe. 

At page37, line 7 for snoAV read sorrow. 

At page 67, line 13 for county read country. 

At page 95, line 19 for descendents read descendants. 

At page 9G, line 23 for prepair read prepare. 

At page 121, line 7 and 19 for Barrow read Barrows. 

At page 125, line 33 for nostalgic read nosologic. |' 

At pace 130, line 35 for mv house read niv home. * 

At page 172, line 5 for Jabesh read Jabez. |- 

At page 183, line 27 and 28 for Berry & Aimer read Perry & Abner. -*: 

At page 185, line 32 for was read were. ( 

At page 187, line 15 for graineries read granaries. * ( 

At page 187, line 22 for no read so. l. 

At page 192, line 10 for JehialStears read Jehial Stearns. 

At page 192, line 22 for Dr. Stevens read Dr. Stearns. 

At page 201, line 29 for southwest read southeast. 

At page 203, line 4 for Dr. L. W. Park read S. W. Park. 

At page 209, line 24 for Henry B. Slocum read Henry AV. Slocum. -\ 

At page 213, line 17 for second Wm. C. read Wm. G. 

At page 261, line 8 for 1705 read 1795. 

At page 297, line 2 for Schroppel read Scrceppel. -y 

At page 302, line 6 for Doxanna read Roxanna. 

At page 307, line 5 for Joseph read Josei^hine. 

At page 86, line 31 for the glory read thy glory. 

At page 86, line 32 for half forgotten read hast forgotten. 

At page 87, line 2, for shaft read shafts. 

At page 87, line 27 for plentitude read plenitude. 

At page 176, line 29 for sholes read shales. 

At page 254, line 17 for Berment read Bement. 

At page 257, line 35 for Grandentia read Gaudentio. 



■'30 



